61) = 
TANFILJEW gives a short description of the different parts 
of the Russian desert-territory which almost completely en- 
circles the Caspian Sea. 
1. The Calmuck Steppe between the rivers Manitsh and 
Volga and the Jergeni Mountains. The soil is here mainly 
clayey, and sparsely covered with species of Artemisia, Achillea, 
Alyssum minimum, Lepidium perfoliatum, Triticum, Poa bul- 
bosa, Ceratocarpus, Astragalus, Alhagi, Zygophyllum, Anabasis 
etc. In sandy tracts the plants include Elymus sabulosus, 
Calamagrostis Epigejos, Euphorbia Gerardiana, Agriophyllum 
and Calligonum Pallasii; in salt-swamps are Tamarix and 
Salsolaceae. 
2. The Kirghiz Steppe (Inner Horde) between the Volga 
and the Ural. The soil is saline clay with here and there 
moving-sands. The northern parts are the most fertile and 
include depressions with Tjernosem and true steppe-plants; 
here for instance are seen Stipa capillata and Lessingiana, 
Koeleria cristata, Silene viscosa and Otites, Phlomis tuberosa and 
pangens. etc., while the ordinary chenopodiaceous vegetation 
may be found on the neighbouring saline clay soil. Farther 
south the vegetation is poorer and in the sandy areas Pulsa- 
tilla, Tribulus, Cytisus biflorus, Astragalus, Amygdalus nana, 
Thymus odoratissimus, etc., are replaced by Elymus sabulosus, 
Stipa, Poa bulbosa, Carex stenophylla and physodes. Some of 
the latter are also found on the more northern sand areas, 
but are reported to be less prominent there. On the clay 
areas species of Artemisia are dominant. Low hills of gypsum 
have a characteristic vegetation (Matthiola talarica, Eremosta- 
chys tuberosa, Fritillaria gibbosa, etc.). 
3. East of the Ural river, TANFILJEW gives as the ap- 
proximate northern limit of the desert, asline from Uralsk 
through Ulu Uil, the southern end of the Mugodshar moun- 
tains, the town of Irgis (Ft. Uralsk) to the southern spurs of 
the Ulutau mountains. North of this line lies the Stipa- 
steppe, which in TANFILJEWS phytogeographical map of the 
Russian empire is also included in the desert. South of the 
Stipa steppes there is a salt clay-desert which occupies the 
peninsula of Mangishlak, the Usturt plateau and the area 
