293 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



Impatiens, Urtica, Sonchus, Heracleum, &c., but in gigantic 

 forms unknown at home. Often a dense thicket of a willow 

 {Salix vitellenia, L.), whose straight, branchless stems resemble 

 at a distance the bamboo woods of the south, alternates with 

 level, grassy carpets of a lively green and small streams in such 

 a way as gives the whole the appearance of the most smiling 

 park carefully kept free of fallen branches and dry grass. It is 

 the river water which in spring has played the gardener's part 

 in these parks, seldom trodden by the foot of man and endlessly 

 rich in the most splendid greenery. Near the river there are 

 also to be found carpets of a uniform green, consisting of a 

 short kind of Equisetum, unmixed with any other plants, which 

 forms a " gazon," to which no nobleman's country seat can show 

 a match. The drawback is, that a stay in these regions during 

 summer is nearly rendered impossible b}^ the enormous number 

 of mosquitoes with which the air is infested. 



A table drawn up by Dr. Aenell, to be found in Redogorelse 

 for dc svcnsha expeditionerna till mynningcn of Jeniscj dr 1876} 

 shows the distribution of the most important varieties of trees. 

 From it we see that on the Yenesej the birch {Betula odorata, 

 Bechst.), the fir {Finns ohovata, Turcz.), the larch {Pinus 

 larix, L.), and the juniper (Juniperus conwitmis, L.), go to 

 69° 35' N.L. (that is to say to the latitude of Tromsoe) ; the 

 sallow (Salix ca^prca, L.) to 68° 55'; the bird's cherry {Primus 

 p)adus, L.), and the Siberian pine {Pinus sihirica, Ledeb.), to 

 66° 30'; the aspen {Populus frcmula, L.) to 65° 55' (the latitude 

 of Haparanda) ; the pine {Pinus sylvatica, L.) to 65° 50', &c. 



In the middle of the forest belt the wood appears to cover 

 the whole land without interruption, thei'e being, unless 

 exceptionally, no open places. But towards the north the forest 

 passes into the treeless tundra through bare spots occurring 

 here and there, which gradually increase, until trees grow only 

 in valleys and sheltered places, and finally disappear completely. 

 Similar is the passage of the forest to treeless regions (steppes), 

 which at first are here and there bestrewed, with more or less 

 detached groups of broad-leaved trees, until they wholly dis- 

 appear, and the land forms an endless plain, out of whose fertile 

 soil the warm summer sun calls forth a great variety of 

 luxuriant vegetable forms, whose many-hued flowers, often 

 large and splendid, clothe the fields with the richest splendour 

 of colour. Here is the true homeland of many of the show- 

 plants in the flower-gardens of Europe, as, for instance, the 

 peony, the Siberian robinia, the blue iris, &c. 



If the Siberian wooded belt forms the most extensive forest 

 in the world, this flower-steppe forms the world's greatest 

 cultivable field, in all probability unequalled in extent and 



1 Bihang till Vet. Akad. Handl. Bd. iv. No. 11, p. 42. 



