f}0 SIIJEJCIA. 



TIh; mountain fliini of tin; Altai nplaiuls mm lli<r o(ln;r haml is in r|iiito a difft'iont con- 

 dition. Ilfsifi, bi!f,'innin(^ uliDady at a lioi(,'lil nf tliron tlioiisand IVft, tlio v<((retaliou is oxtivmely 

 peculiar and j^Maduaily passos into llio alpint; flora, proper to tho Asiatic Alps, Of coui-so this 

 flora contains not a lew plants \vlii<li liiduni.' In tlie arctic zone of Ihf Old World, which 

 also climb tlio Europ<;an Alps, but an enormous prujiorlion of tho plants arc the typical and 

 p(?culiar property of llie alpine and sulialpine zones (d' the Altai Saian mounl;iiuous ret'ion, 

 wlii'ii only a low species cros.s the ran^'es of (Jruitral Asia, sudi ;is ibf Tian-Shan and the 

 connected Stiuiirocliinsk and Zailisk Altai. Anions the shrubs eharacteristic of the subal- 

 pino zone (d' tho Altai may be notieed: a few species of acacia (carapano mierophylla Zam.. 

 bungei Led., pygmaoa D. C, si)iiiosa I). C, tragacanthoides Poir), two dog roses (rosa platya- 

 cantha Silir. and Gebloiiana Scbr.), the galton troo (cotoucaster uniflora Bgo), some species 

 of currant (ribes aciculare Sm., saxatilo Pall, cunoatum Kar., heterotrichum Moq., procum- 

 bens Pall), two species of tamarisk (tamariscenao), myricaria aloi)ccnroidos Sch. and daurica 

 Elir. ), three honeysuckles (lonicora humilis Kai., Iiispidii. L. and liiingeana Led.), one species 

 of azalea (osmothamnus pallidus D.C.) ami two rhodudendra (rhododendron •■hrysanthum 

 J'all. and davuricum L.); among- acicular leaved shrubs, ephedra stenosperma Schr., and inter- 

 media Schr., juniperus pseudosabina Fiseh. ami davurica Pall., and two kinds of birch, betula 

 mierophylla Pge, and betula lortuosa Led. 



Much more characteristic is the herbaceous vegetation of the alpine and subalpine 

 meatlows and slopes, which enchant the eye with the richness and brilliancy of their flowers. 

 'J'lie lollowiiig may be indicated as amoncf the species most eharacteristic for the Altai Sayan 

 mountainous system, a few beautiful anemones (anemone umbrosa Mey., Fischeriana D. C. and 

 Pulsatilla bungcana Mey.), peculiar kinds of crow's-foot (ranunculus altaicus Laxm.. longi- 

 caulis, pulclicllus, natans, lasiocarpus, propinquus. graiidifolius Mey., and the exceptionally 

 interesting oxygraphis glacialis Bge. and callianhemum rutaefoliura Mey), a ranuneulus with 

 pale lilac flowers (hcgenione lilacina Bge.) larkspurs (delphinium laxiflorum and dictyocarpum 

 D. C), three fumitories (corydalis nobilis Pers., stricta Pers. and inconpticua Bge.), as many 

 as thirty altaic species of ci-ncifers, belonging to the high alpine zone (of the genera mathiola, 

 arabis, ])arrya, macropodium, psilotrichum, draba, holargidium, chorispora, dontostemon, 

 braya, (Mitrema, Hutchinsia) charming species of violets (viola altaica Pall., macrocarpa 

 Bge., imberbis Led. and acuminata Led.), fifteen or so pecidiar species of caryophylleae and 

 stellariae, altaie varieties of flat a (linum violaceum Bge), St. John's worts (hypericum 

 gebleri Bge), some forty beautiful vaiiegated sort of leguminosae, among which especially 

 prominent are numerous species of astragalus (astragalus and oxytropis), whose extensive 

 family climbs from the Central Asiatic steppes to the etenial snows of the Asiatic 

 mountain ranges. Xext follow the quaint, high alpine forms of rosaceae (sibbaldia 

 adprcssa Bge., dryadantlK^ bimgeana Led.,- chamaerodon altaica Bge., potentilla altaiea 

 Bge., comarum salessowi Bge.). Further there are a few characteristic saxifrages, among 

 which in particular the so-called Chagyr tea (saxifraga crassifolia L.), the large leaves 

 of which serve as a surrogate to tea. There are some twenty species of Altai com- 

 positae, among them several species of saussure (pygmea Spr., pycnocephala Led., latifolia 

 Led., acuminata Tiircz.. foliosa Led.) Finally the primalaceae largely contribute to the adorn- 



