File:Contributions from the Botanical Laboratory, vol. 9 (1892) (20065419514).jpg

Title: Contributions from the Botanical Laboratory, vol. 9
Identifier: contributionsfro09univ (find matches)
Year: 1892 (1890s)
Authors: University of Pennsylvania. Botanical Laboratory
Subjects: Botany; Botany
Publisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press
Contributing Library: Penn State University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
sketc;hes of the veuetation of some SOUTHERN PROVINCES OF SOVIET RUSSIA II. PLANT LIFE ALONG THE GEORGIAN MILITARY WAY, NORTH CAUCASUS By WILLIAM SEIFRIZ. (With Plates XVIII-XX, and two Figures in the Text.) The Georgian Military Way is the main route across the Caucasus Mountains. It leads from Vladicavcas on the north to Tiflis on the south. The road is famed in Russian history as the scene of many encounters between the Russians and the Gruzini (Georgians). It is equally renowned for its magnificent scenery; the Daryal Canyon and Mount Kasbek are known by name to every Russian school child. The Georgian Military Way has been trod not only by soldiers but by botanists, with the result that the Caucasian flora is as well known as any in Russia. Some fifty species of plants bear the name caucasica. There is a humorous saying among Russian botanists that when in the Caucasus if you do not know the specific name of a plant, guess orientalis, if wrong, then guess caucasica and you are certain to be right! The Caucasian Mountains lie diagonally in a north-west to south-east direction across the broad neck of land which joins the Russian Union to Turkey and Persia (Fig. 1). They extend from the Black Sea to the Caspian, and separate Russia proper from Georgia and Azerbaijan. Tiflis is the capital of Georgia, and Baku, on the Caspian Sea, is the capital of Azerbaijan. These two "republics" and Armenia constitute Transcaucasia. The highest mountain in the Caucasus is Elbrus, 5660 m. (18,565 ft.); it lies far west of the Georgian Military Way. Mount Kasbek is second in height, 5043 m. (16,541 ft.), and lies close to the Way. All of the higher mountains are glaciated. Not far from the foot hills of the range on the north is Vladicavcas, a good sized but rather primitive town. Tiflis is the chief city on the south; it lies some 50 km. from the mountains. The Georgian Military Way, from Vladicavcas to Tiflis, is 220 km. long; the journey over it can be made in a day (10 hours) by auto-bus. More satis- factory for the botanist is to make the journey by carriage from Vladicavcas to Kasbek, which can be quite leisurely done in a day. The remainder of the trip from Kasbek to Tiflis is less interesting both scenically and botanically, and is best made by auto-bus, unless, of course, a survey of the more and regions on the south side of the mountains is to be included. If one remains
Text Appearing After Image:
en a o 0 cd o 09 a H d 93 09 o 0 ed O

Note About Images