A nomenclatural standard confirms the originality of a cultivar as a breeding achievement, it is an important part of the cultivar documentation. For official recognition, it is mandatory to publish the designation of a herbarium specimen as the nomenclatural standard, including the specimen identification number and a link to the published description of the cultivar. The creation and publication of a nomenclatural standard is necessary to consolidate the name of a cultivar and its appearance and, consequently, a certain set of genetic information. A herbarium specimen shall be prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) and transferred for preservation to a recognized herbarium. This publication presents the nomenclatural standards of summer apple cultivars ‘Avgusta’ (WIR-109178), ‘Maslovskoe’ (WIR-109179), ‘Orlinka’ (WIR-109180), ‘Orlovim’ (WIR-109181), ‘Osipovskoe’ (WIR-109182), ‘Solny`shko’ (WIR-109183), and ‘Yablochny`j Spas’ (WIR-109184) created at the Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding (VNIISPK). The plant material for preparing nomenclatural standards was collected from the VNIISPK bioresource collection. The herbarium label contains the unique number of the specimen in the VIR Herbarium, the Latin name of the species, the cultivar name, the place of reproduction (where the herbarized plant was grown), the collecting date, and the collector’s name. The authenticity of the cultivar is confirmed by the signature of an expert, curator of the apple collection. The herbarium sheet also contains photographs of flowers and fruits of the herbarized plant. The created nomenclatural standards were registered in the VIR Herbarium database and deposited in the Type Specimens Section of the VIR Herbarium (WIR). The created nomenclatural standards can be used as carriers of authentic genetic information of a cultivar as a breeding achievement.

Nomenclatural standards have been prepared for seven cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) cultivars, namely ‘Astraxanskaya Krasavicza’ (WIR-109254), ‘Zhemchuzhina Kaspiya’ (WIR-109255), ‘Kaspijskaya Zarya’ (WIR-109256), ‘Kigach’ (WIR-109257), ‘Lyanchixe’ (WIR-109258), ‘Pasta Grin’ (WIR-109259), and ‘Samma Nova’ (WIR-109260) bred in VIR using accessions from the collection of grain legume genetic resources and maintained in the VIR collection. The herbarium specimens were prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), registered in the VIR Herbarium database and deposited in the Type Specimens Section of the Herbarium of Cultivated Plants of the World, their Wild Relatives and Weeds (WIR) at the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources.

A morphological analysis of the stolon branching pattern has been performed for several species of the genus Fragaria L. from the VIR collection. It was revealed that two diploid species, F. viridis (Duchesne) Weston and F. yezoensis Hara, exhibit monopodial stolon branching, in which each internode after the first basal scale-like leaf on the stolon ends in a rosette. The remaining studied species have sympodial stolon branching, which can be divided into two subgroups. In F. orientalis Losinsk., F. moschata (Duchesne) Weston, F. virginiana (Duchesne) Mill., F. mandshurica Staudt, and F. vesca L., an additional axillary stolon forms in the axil of the first scale-like leaf on the stolon, and the next internode on the first-order stolon ends in a shortened shoot (brachyblast) with a rosette of leaves. Then, a second-order stolon forms again at the next node of the first-order stolon. In the second subgroup, which includes F. chiloensis (L.) Mill. subsp. chiloensis, F. chiloensis subsp. pacifica Staudt, F. × ananassa (Weston) Duchesne ex Rozier, F. iturupensis Staudt, and F. iinumae Makino, second-order stolons rarely develop beneath the scale-like leaves of the first-order stolons, they often fail to develop at all, or are rudimentary. These morphological differences reflect genetic diversity in the genus Fragaria, revealing different evolutionary adaptations to environmental conditions, competitive strategies, and dispersal mechanisms.

This paper presents the results of molecular genetic analysis of herbarium specimens from the VIR Herbarium collection (WIR) and archaeobotanical finds from the excavation of the grain yard of the St. Sergius Trinity Lavra (15th century). The specifics of working with genetic material samples obtained from herbarium specimens and plant remains are considered. A number of difficulties in extracting DNA fragments are noted. Several protocols for nucleic acid extraction from herbarium and fossil plant samples have been tested and approved during the molecular genetic research. Amplification was performed with primers for the chloroplast spacer regions psbK-psbI and trnL-trnF. Amplification products of various sizes were detected in the crop plants preserved in the VIR herbarium. A comparison of the PCR results revealed amplification products of identical size in dried plants and ancient DNA samples of the same species. Therefore, this study demonstrates the feasibility of further work with ancient DNA from 15th-century archaeobotanical samples.