flora of the first-mentioned localities as well, agrees perfectly with that of the islets. But 

 only at a short distance from the river, the character of the vegetation is changed/ The 

 moisture of the soil decreases rather quickly, and the brownish-grey steppe appears, 

 with a poor and rather monotonous vegetation. In depressions on the steppe not far 

 from the river, there is frequently moisture enough for forming small, shallow swamps 

 with a richer flora. In such a depression on the Abakan Steppe, not far from the village 

 of Askys, I have observed the following plants: ,|| 



Poa pratensis, Poa alpina, Poa irrigata, Poa alpesiris, Poa palustiis f. stolonifera, 

 Carex capillaiis subspec. densiflora nov. subspec, Carex panicea, Carex atto-fusca var. 

 coriophoia, Carex tomentosa, Carex gracilis, Carex Goodenoughii, Carex vesicaria, Carex 

 intermedia, Carex orthostachys var. typica, Hordeum secalinum var. brevisubulatum, 

 Scirpus alpinus var. oliganthus, Scirpus Tabernaemontani, Scirpus palustris, Glyceria 

 aquatica, var. arundinacea, Phragmites communis, Phalaris arundinacea, Agrostis 

 canina, Juncus bufonius, Juncus Gerardi, Androsaces Gmelini, Orchis militaris X O. 

 simia. Orchis angustifolius. Orchis simia. Orchis latif alius var. tenuior. Orchis 

 angusiifolius vai. Fiiesii, Oichis incarnatus, Cypripedilum macranthon, Herminium 

 Monorchis, Polygonum amphibium, Ranunculus acris, Caltha palustris, Trollius asiaticus. 

 Anemone silvestris, Potenlilla anserina, Cardamine pratensis var. paruifolia. Primula 

 sibirica var. brevicalyx, Pedicularis palustris, Lysimachia thyrsiflora, Triglochin palustre, 

 Plantago major, Petasites laevigatas, and Equisetum Heleocharis var. fluvialile. 



In other places, in similar depressions with more sandy earth, for instance about 

 the river U i b a t, the steppe was observed in the flowering season to resemble a large 

 blue sea nearly exclusively consisting of Iris ensata. Farther into the steppe are 

 also to be found a number of larger or smaller lakes and swamps, but the water here is 

 salt, and the plant life in and about them is therefore quite differing and will be entered 

 into at a greater length in the following survey of the vegetation of the steppe. 



The Steppe Vegetation. 



The Abakan Steppe appers to be one large, continuous plain extending for hundreds 

 of wersts in every direction, almost entirely smooth and flat, like a floor. The vegetation 

 differs somewhat in the various places according to the conditions of the soil, which, 

 in some places, is almost quite dry and waste. In the main, however, it may be said 

 to be a typical grass-steppe with some few predominating species, above all Koeleria 

 gracilis and Festuca ovina var. sulcata covering the ground with a vegetation so sparse 

 as to lay open to the view the greyish-brown or greyish-yellow earth. These species of 

 grass are themselves not of a fresh green either, but of a more greyish-green or yellowish- 

 green colour, thus giving the whole steppe, even early in summer, a monotonous, withe- 

 red, and dry appearance. The composition of the vegetation may, however, differ con- 

 siderably according to the character of the soil. As instances of the vegetation of the 

 steppe I shall therefore in the foUowing mention the different species occurring in the 



22 



