ILLUSTRATIONS (17). VEGETATION OF THE STEPPES. 95 



never observed anything approaching to this phenomenon, 

 excepting, perhaps, where I have looked only towards one 

 quarter of the heavens, for the Asiatic plains are frequently 

 intersected by chains of hills, or clothed with coniferous woods. 

 The Asiatic vegetation, too, in the most fruitful pasture 

 lands, is by no means limited to the family of the Cyperacea?, 

 but is enriched by a great variety of herbaceous plants and 

 shrubs. In the season of spring, small snowy white and red 

 flowering Rosacea and Amygdaleee (Spircea, Crataegus, Primus 

 spinosa, Amy g dolus nana), present a pleasing appearance. I 

 have elsewhere spoken of the tall and luxuriant Synan- 

 thereae (Saussurea amaro, S. salsa, Artemisia, and Centaurece), 

 and of leguminous plants, (species of the Astragalus, Cytisus 

 and Caragana). Crown Imperials [FritiUaria ruthenica and 

 F. meleagroides), Cypripediae and tulips gladden the eye with 

 their varied and bright hues. 



A contrast is presented to this charming vegetation of the 

 Asiatic plains by the dreary Salt Steppes, especially by that 

 portion of the Barabinski Steppe which lies at the base of the 

 Altai Mountains, between Barnaul and the Serpent Mountain, 

 and by the country to the east of the Caspian. Here the 

 social Chenopodiae, species of Salsola, Atriplex, Salicorniae, and 

 Halimocnemis crassifolia*, cover the clayey soil with patches 

 of verdure. Among the five hundred phanerogamic species 

 which Claus and Gobel collected on the Steppes, Synanthereae, 

 Chenopodiae, and Cruciferae were more numerous than the 

 grasses ; the latter constituting only -^th of the whole, and the 

 two former -ith and ith. In Germany, owing to the alternation 

 of hills and plains, the Glumacese (comprising the Gramineae, 

 Cyperaceae, and Juncaceae) constitute yth, the Synanthereae 

 (Compositae) -^th, and the Cruciferae ^th of all the German 

 Phanerogamic species. In the most northern part of the flat 

 land of Siberia, the extreme limit of tree and shrub vegetation 

 (Cojiiferce and Amentaeece) is, according to Admiral Wran- 

 gell's fine map, 67° 15^ north lat., in the districts contiguous 

 to Behring's Straits, while more to the west, towards the 

 banks of the Lena, it is 71°, which is the parallel of the 

 North Cape of Lapland. The plains bordering on the Polar Sea 

 are the domain of Cryptogamic plants. They are called Tundra 

 (Tuntur in Finnish), and are vast swampy districts, covered 



* Gobel, Reise in die Steppe des sudliclien Russlands, 1838, th. ii. 

 s. 244, 301. 



