Rare and endangered plants of the flora of Georgia common in the Tbilisi environs (East Georgia, Caucasus)

The protection and preservation of biodiversity around big cities is an urgent problem of modern times. The present study is devoted to the protection and preservation of the wild flora of Tbilisi City. 40 rare and endangered vascular plants of flora of Georgia growing wild in the Tbilisi environs have been identified. 14 of them are trees, 6 - shrubs, 2 - semi-shrubs and undershrubs, 17 - perennial herbs and 1 - annual plant. Each of them was assessed according to IUCN categories and criteria: Critically Endangered (CR) – 6 species, Endangered (EN) – 10, Vulnerable (VU) – 12, Near Threatened (NT) – 8 and Data Deficient (DD) species – 4. They are plants of different bio-ecologies and are distributed in the different vegetation types and habitats. 19 species are endemics of the Caucasus. Two of them (Astragalus cyri Fomin and Anthemis saguramica Sosn.) are endemics of Georgia. The article provides a list of the target species with reference to key synonyms, families, habitats (within Tbilisi environs), life forms and IUCN categories and criteria (within Georgia).