Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2026 number 3

This article examines toponymic, historical, and historical-lexicological evidence of Pinus sibirica Du Tour growing west of its traditionally designated range. Both modern large-scale maps of the regions of interest and maps from past periods dating back to the late 18th century, when the General Land Survey plans were created, were examined. Based on the cartographic research conducted, a number of toponyms were discovered that indicate the possible presence in past times of both the Siberian stone pine itself and its consort, the sable ( Martes zibellina L.), hundreds of kilometers west of the boundaries of their current ranges. For the same purpose, historical documents were examined, ranging from 15th-century charters and census books to economic documents from the 19th and 20th centuries. These documents also provide evidence of the more western presence of the cedar in the North of European Russia in the past. The historical and lexical research included the study of dialects of the northern provinces of Russia in the 19th century and modern regional and dialectological dictionaries. As a result, linguistic traces of the presence of the cedar in the basins of the Northern Dvina and Sukhona rivers were identified, again significantly further west of the traditionally indicated area of P. sibirica . In addition to words related to the cedar itself, local names of certain animals were also found, indicating their connection with the Siberian cedar pine. Overall, the studies conducted have shown that the distribution boundary of the Siberian cedar may have previously been further west.