THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 353 



description of the sparingly populated but still inhabited 

 Tartarian Steppes of Pontus. These do not uniformly pre- 

 sent a level surface, being broken by the Durrinas, low 

 tracts of Bush of Blackthorns, Hawthorns, Roses and 

 Brambles. But the remaining part of the vegetation is 

 also divided by the inhabitants of lesser Russia, according 

 to its use for pasture, into two essentially distinct groups, 

 the Trmva, the turf, and the Burian, the rough, branching 

 plants which, on account of their woody stem, afford no 

 sustenance to the herds of the Steppes. The Feather 

 Grass* is the principal among the Graminaceous plants. 

 Directly after flowering, it expands its long, delicately 

 feathered awns, not unlike Marabout feathers, from the 

 spike which rises high above the tuft of narrow, dry 

 leaves. The older the Steppe, the higher developes the 

 woody root-stock above the soil, to the annoyance of the 

 mower. Whoever travels but a few miles into the Steppes, 

 soon hears the word Burian. Against the Burian inveighs 

 the herdsman with his oxen and horses ; over the Burian 

 laments the husbandman ; the Burian is the curse of the 

 gardener and the hope of the cook. For in the soil of the 

 Steppe, which is peculiarly fertile for certain plants, which 

 we call weeds, these shoot up to an incredible height, 

 wherever cultivation has loosened the solid soil, which they 

 avoid, and their peculiar use is, that, dried up in the 

 autumn, they furnish the only fuel of these regions. Above 

 all, as in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, the Thistles 

 distinguish themselves, acquiring a size, a development and 

 ramification, which is really marvellous. Often do they 

 stand like little trees around the humble earth-hovels of 

 the country-people; on favourable soil, they often form 



* Scholkowoi Truwa (silk -plant), Stipa pennata. 



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