CHAPTER 8 
The Formation on the Talus Slopes. 
As was stated on page 77 talus with large stones 
reveal other conditions than those usually found on moun- 
tain-sides. The great stones and boulders cover protectingly 
the finer soil beneath, so that even on slopes exposed to the 
south it does not dry totally out. The vegetation is influenced 
by this condition, as will be shown in the following. 
The western part of the northern shore of Jashil Kul 
is formed, as described on page 40, by a talus slope stretching, 
from the almost perpendicular wall of the mountain, straight 
down to the lake. This slope is continued along the west 
shore as well. 
In many places the talus of the north shore is totally 
without plant life; seen from a distance no green is visible, 
only gray-brown stones. Even in the most fertile spots there 
is a distance of at least a mètre, and some time many mètres, 
between each plant. The common species are: Eurotia cera- 
loides, Cicer pungens, Lagochilus diacanthophyllus, Ligusticum 
alpinum, Nepeta podostachys, Elymus lanatus var. canus, Ar- 
temisia maritima aff., Astragalus lasiosemius, huge cushions of 
Acantholimon alatavicum, Zozimia tragioides, Rubia tibetica, 
Heracleum Olgae var. virens. The latter is very noticeable, 
even though most of the specimens have only rosettes of 
leaves. The leaves are green and about '/s mètre long; yet 
high inflorescences both green and dry are to be seen also in 
quantities. We found too, Erigeron acer var. droebachensis, 
Sisymbrium Sophia var. nana, Astragalus tibetanus, Linaria sp., 
Silene caucasica, and on the western part, with partly eastern 
exposure, were Artemisia pamirica, Allium sp. Trigonella Emodi, 
Crepis flexuosa, Cousinia rava, Astragalus Alitschuri, Ephedra 
distachya, Chrysanthemum Richteria, Stipa orientalis (scanty), 
Elymus sibiricus, Agropyrum longearistatum, Polygonum alpi- 
num with its large white spiraea-like flowers, in great quan- 
tities; Arenaria Meyeri, Ziziphora clinopodioides var. dasyantha, 
Hymenolaena darvasica, Sedum Rhodiola, S. sp., Ribes heterotri- 
