Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2012 number 2

Th e fl ora of steppes of the Baikal Siberia (BS) is rich enough (666 species of high vascular plants), that is a consequence of features of a climate, orography, and also its buff er position between Northern and the Central Asia. In a variety of steppe relicts BS are in some measure refl ected palaeogeographic events in open spaces of Northern Asia throughout last 3-5 million years, from tertiary savannas and deserts to tundra-steppe landscapes of Pleistocene. Besides in an exchange and transformation of fl ora the great value had as median position of territory BS in a trans-Asiatic mountain belt, and climatic influence of Megaberingia, and also influence of glacial epoch, connected with cryoaridisation. All it has formed a basis of high uniqueness of fl ora of steppes BS. It not only the most ancient relicts of paleogen-neogen age (Peganum nigellastrum, Caryopteris mongolica, Craniospermum subvillosum), but also pleistocene periglacial (Chamaerhodos altaica, Oxytropis eriocarpa, Patrinia sibirica, Gentiana decumbens, Artemisia depauperata). Its perfect model for knowledge fl orogenesis not only in mountains of Siberia, but also the north of the Central Asia.