There are two great mountain ranges in Soviet Central Asia. The Tien-Shan range spans from western China into the Soviet republics of Kazakstan and Kirgizia and terminates in Uzbekistan near Tashkent. The republic of Tadjikistan forms the most southerly part of the U.S.S.R. in Central Asia where the Pamir-Alai mountains terminate as the north-west extension of The Himalaya.
Within the vast mountainous area bordering China and Afghanistan lies Peak Communism (24,590 ft.), which is the highest mountain in the U.S.S.R. The last ridges of the Pamir-Alai spread out towards the Russian deserts on latitudes similar to southern Spain and Greece, and reflect these areas in climatic conditions with hot dry summers. The areas lack arboreal diversity in the range of genera, the most abundant natives are Juniperus and Prunus species, with more sporadic occurrence of birch, maple, poplar, walnut, and willow. Due to the very high mountains and the extent of the Soviet deserts, it results in a marked absence in the distribution of oak and pine (Fig. 1).
Pamir-Alai Mountains near Khamzaabad south of Fereana (habitat area for Sorbus tianschanica and Betula tienschanica).
The higher north faces of the Pamir-Alai mountains are often thickly covered with juniper forests of three species. The lower altitudes are dominated by the dark dense conical crowns of Juniperus seravschanica, and the middle and higher areas give way to the more open light green crowns of J. semiglobosa (Fig. 2). The latter is distinctive in having pendulous branchlet tips and smaller cones. The high altitude species, J. turkestanica, forms a slow-growing globular shrub. Some of the junipers attain large proportions and are reputed to attain an age of up to 2,000 years. In more open areas within the junipers, Sorbus persica are found and at higher elevations S. tianschanica. Betula tienschanica form groups of showy trunks, creamy white with shades of pink peeling bark, among the dark juniper foliage, and on grassy slopes near recently melted snow spring numerous minute white stars of Colchicum kesselringii (Fig. 3).
High altitude forests of Juniperus semiglobosa and darker crowns of Juniperus seravschanica near lordan the Pamir-Alai Mountains’of Tadzikistan.
Betula tienschanica trunk with cream and tinted pink unfolding layers of bark.
In the lower valleys of the Varzob Gorge north of Dushande there is a rare opportunity to see naturally occurring a tree that has been domesticated, the plane (sycamore). In various Soviet floras this tree is often named as Platanus orientalior which has distinctive deeply lobed leaves and having long styles although modern authors and local botanists agree to the correct name being P. orientalis.
In April the wooded slopes of the Varzob Gorge come alive with the white flowering Prunus divaricata and P. mahaleb. At higher altitudes the drier slopes are covered with pink almond blossoms of P. bacharica and the shrubby P. erythrocarpa. Soviet botanists recognize numerous segregate genera of the large genus Prunus and would name the above plants as Amygdalus bucharica and Cerasus erythrocarpa. A number of these fruiting trees are grown as orchard crops in the foothills. Walnuts are native to the area and are subject to nomenclatural discrepancies which appear to be variants of Juglans regia. J. fallax is often mentioned as being native to the area but may only occur farther west in the Kopet Dag Mountains bordering Iran. Crataegus pontica and Acer turkestanica form thickets with Celtis caucasica and Pistacia vera. Exochorda korolkowii has a showy display of white blossoms covering the tops of tall upright shrubs.
In the mountains south of Fergana at Kham-zaabad and lordan the limestone rocks support a number of shrubs including Berberis, Cotoneaster, Lonicera, and the yellow-flowered Rosa kokanica. Along high-altitude dry stream beds which wind through dark juniper forests are Betula tienschanica, Populus pamirica, and shrubby trees of Acer ginnala var. semenovii.
The Tien-Shan mountain range occurs north of the Pamir-Alai, being separated by the fertile region of the Fergana Valley. A number of endemic birch and hawthorns are recorded in The Tien-Shan, including B. kirghisorum and C. almaatensis. The latter grows in the foothills south of Alma Ata where it is rare and is included in the U.S.S.R. Red Book of endangered species along with the tiger and wild horse.
The Tien-Shan range has additional coniferous trees (Fig. 4). The rare Abies semenovii which is found locked in the Fergana Mountains where the milder climate has resulted in softer and larger foliage compared with its more northernly relative, A. sibirica. The common coniferous tree is Picea schrenkiana which forms compact forests between 3,000 and 10,000 feet altitude (Fig. 5). A closely related form recorded as P. tienschanica is reported to be found in the Chatkal range. Picea schrenkiana is a narrow conical tree with pendulus branches and may attain a height of 120 feet, often occurring on steep mountain slopes.
Spruce forests below Talgar Peak (12,148′) south of Alma-Ata in Kazakstan.
Picea schrenkiana and Sorbus tienschanica in the Tien-Shan Mountains south of Funje in Kirgizia.
- © 1981, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.
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