The peculiarities of life-form formation in Rhododendron myrtifolium Schott et Kotschy in the Ukrainian Carpathians

In the upland of the Ukrainian Carpathians there are the cushion-like, crooked and prostrate ecomorphs common for Rh. myrtifolium . The shoot system is formed with plagiotropic skeletal overground shoots developing short-living substitutional and additional shoots. The skeletal axes remain covered with dead plant remains and form the vegetative half-moving form on the wet substrates. The ontogenesis duration of Rh. myrtifolium under optimal conditions is over 120 years, and under the extreme conditions it is reduced to 40–60 years. Keywords: Rhododendron myrtifolium , life form, ecomorphs, system of shoots, structural adaptation, Ukrainian Carpathians.