GEOGRAPHICAL BOTANY. 353 



beautiful mountain pastures which alternate with the 

 former. The traveller soon ascended the high mountain 

 chain between Kur and Araxes, forming the boundary 

 between Georgia and Armenia (this he calls the lower 

 Caucasus, Giildenstedt and Klaproth call it the promon- 

 tory of Ararat), which, according to Parrot's measure- 

 ment, ascends to an elevation of 12,780'. But vegetation 

 was still backward in this region, for even in the 

 Armenian highlands, few of the herbaceous plants and 

 Grasses which, with a thorny underwood of Tragacanth, 

 cover the bare heights, were in flower (p. 386). However, 

 on going from Alagas, near the valley of Araxes, to 

 Eriwan, Koch was amply compensated by the banks of 

 the Kasach (p. 397). The climate is so dry, that even 

 in May the soil is parched and barren, whilst in the more 

 elevated regions vegetation has scarcely commenced. 

 But by artificial irrigation, the cultivation of the soil may 

 be effected even during the hot and dry months, the 

 fields and orchards surrounding the villages then resemble 

 oases in a stony desert. Fruit trees were planted generally, 

 especially peach trees and apricots ; besides these there 

 was a natural arboreal vegetation along the Kasach valley, 

 consisting of Elceagnus and Populus, with Prunus incana, 

 and Tamarix. In Eriwan, especially, the greatest at- 

 tention is paid to the cultivation of fruits and the vine, 

 and the traveller had never met with more beautiful 

 gardens than he saw there. 



Schrenck continued his travels in Soongarei in 1843, 

 and has already made known the plants he found in 

 that year (Bulletin Petersbourg, iii, pp. 106-10, 209-12, 

 305-9) . They belong to the following genera : Ranunculus 

 (2 sp.), Stubendorfia, nov. gen. Crucifer., Isatis, Geranium, 

 Zygophyllum, Haplopliyllum, Euphorbia (2 sp.), Sophora, 

 Oxytropis, Astragalus, Seseli, Lomatop odium, nov. gen. 

 Umbelliferse, Carum, Artemisia (2 sp.), Cliamageron near 

 Henricea, Saussurea, Cousinea (4 sp.), Plagiobasis, nov. 

 gen. near the preceding, Jurinea, Serratula, Echinops, 

 Echinospermum, Eremostachys, Artlirophytum, nov. gen. 



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