Lari.v sihiiica also assumes inif^hly diinensioiis licic, nu'asiiring lo 45 m. in licifjh!, 

 aiul aljoiil 2 in. in dianielor al a man's height. Generally the larch does not form al 

 any rate eonlinuous forests of considerable extent, as it occurs sparsely together with other 

 conifers, especially with pine and fohferoiis trees. It secined lo he :ii)li- Id ciKlinc llie 

 dry steppe climate heller llian any other conifer. Ijeing of especially common occurrence 

 in the dry, Devonian sandstone territories, where it also forms woods over tracts of 

 some extent, in i)art even wilhoul any admixture of other trees, hi such places the very 

 largest specimens also are lo he found. In the rrjankai country, the larch therefore 

 especially occurs in the lower, hotter, and dii -r tracts. Ilial is. in the wooded steppe region. 

 Hovicver, this is nol due lo sensitiveness to the cold, for in noilhern Siberia the larch 

 grows as far to the north as the other conifers, or farther still (up to 72'j north 

 latitude), and even as for north as in the J a k u t s k district, it becomes large and 

 well grown. In the I'rjankai country, it also reaches up to 1700—1800 m. above 

 sea-level, i. e. right up to Ihe tree limit. It is, accordingly, one of tlie most hardy 

 conifers here, and is far from being dependent on the summer lieals. The reason why 

 it is especially restricted to lower altitudes after all, is that these regions are 

 drier, and accordingly less suited for other conifers to do quite well. For the larch is 

 of all the coniferous trees the one being best able to endure the dry climate, while 

 it is evidently expelled from the moister tracts by more shade-giving conifers. Thus 

 it is the conditions of moisture, and not the summer heats, which, in my opinion, are 

 the cause of the existdng distribution of the larch in these regions. The ground in 



l"'ig. 24. Trunks of ccciar in the primeval forest near Kusliabar. 



In the I'oregrounii mainly Sdmbticiis i-accniosa, Asperula odoraia, 



and various species ol ferns. 



47 



