Similar open, dry declivities with southern aspects were rather frequently to be 

 met with in the taiga, often bearing marks of forest-fires, which had devastated the wood. 

 In these stretches the conifers seemed to have some difficulty in gaining ground again, 

 foliferous trees being mostly predominant, especially Beiiila piibescens and Populiis 

 iiemula, associated with various grasses and some forerunners of the xerophilous steppe- 

 like flora. 



At greater altitudes on the summits of the still wooded hills to be found here at 

 the outskirts of the Sayansk eruptive area, some plants not observed by me in the lower 

 regions also occurred, viz.: 



Saxifraga sibirica. Euphorbia alpina. Anemone coerulea, Ranunculus propinquus, 

 Viola biflora, Saussurea alpina, Betula rotundifolia, Petasites frigidus, and others. 



Moreover, the following are above all characteristic of the sandy stretches of the 

 liver-bed : 



Dianthus superbus, Potentilla fruticosa, Potentilla anserina, and Equisetum variegatum, 

 and in loamy soil Tussilago Farfara, and Veronica serpyllifolia. 



In low, irrigated, stony places and on low river-banks among pebbles, the charac- 

 teristic leaves of Petasites laeuigatus frequently occurred at this time. 



The taiga is practically waste, untouched and uninhabited. Only at intervals of 

 several days' journeys, the traveller meet with scattered camps of gold-diggers where 



Fig. 29. The banks of the Aniyl river near Serairetslia, aijout 400 in. above .sea-level. The sands 

 covered vsrith Petasites laevigatas, the banks chiefly grown with spruce, birch, and Potentilla fniticosa. 



5.3 



