THE STRUCTURE OF THE VARIABILITY OF FRUIT SIGNS OF POPULATIONS OF <i>SMILAX EXCELSA L.</i> IN DAGHESTAN
The paper presents the results of the study of variability of the signs of the fruit of the three populations of Smilax excelsa L. in Daghestan. The geographical isolation of the population from the vicinity of the village of Primorskoe and the similarity of populations located in the identical climatic conditions (on the edge of the area) of the village of Padar and the village of Shushanovka. The highest correlation can be traced of weight characteristics of the fruit and seed of S. excelsa with a sign of "the efficiency of the fruit", indicating their functional interdependence. The greatest contribution to the signs variability is "the efficiency rate of the fetus" - 54,5%, "the mass of 100 seeds" - 45,1%, "the mass of the largest seed" - 44,8%, "the seed weight" - 40,7%, and "the index of fruit (length/diameter)" - 35,5%. The share of the influence of all these features on the inter-population variability is significantly associated with the latitudinal gradient. The greatest influence of the latitudinal gradient factor occurred in "the fetal index (length / diameter)": r<sup>2 </sup>= 34,5%.