SIBERIAN AND STEPPE REGIONS 139 



holophylla, which occurs in the south Ussuri region. 

 A yew, Taxus cuspidata, occurs in the forests of the 

 Sea-coast district, its timber being of little value, 

 however. 



As regards deciduous species, the Amur district is 

 very rich, the forest flora of the Sea-coast district 

 resembling in many respects the forests of Korea, 

 and, in part at least, of Japan. Among the chief 

 deciduous species are two oaks, Quercus mongolica, 

 found along the middle course of the Amur and in 

 the south of the Sea-coast district, and Quercus grosse- 

 serrata in the Ussuri district ; two species of ash 

 Fraxinus mandshurica, distributed almost throughout 

 the Amur and the sea-coast districts except in the 

 extreme north, and Fraxinus rhynchophylla, found in 

 the southern Ussuri district ; the walnut (Juglans 

 mandshurica) occurring in the Amur and the central 

 and southern parts of the Sea-coast district ; the 

 Dimorphantus mandshurica, which furnishes a beautiful 

 veneer ; and two species of lime (Tilia amurensis and 

 Tilia mandshurica). Generally speaking, both in the 

 Amur and the Sea-coast districts coniferous forests 

 predominate in the north, covering the mountain 

 slopes, leaving the lower ground to the deciduous 

 species. 



THE STEPPE REGION 



The Steppe region lies to the southward of the 

 above-described zone. In its westward part there is 

 a marked change in the character of the forest from 

 that of the taiga. In the south of the Government of 

 Tobolsk, and still more so in the Semipalatinsk and 



