Kazakhstan Revisited (3) - Alpines

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I’ve already given you a taster of some of the alpines we saw on the trip, but in this blog I’m going to concentrate on some of the more choice ones we saw.

Chorispora bugeana grew high in the mountains near Almaty. It is capable of withstanding very low temperatures, and appears to have a unique mechanism to do this which scientists are investigating.

Sedum hybridum is a tough little drought tolerant plant. Several named cultivars are in cultivation

Androsaces are very choice alpines, but often difficult to grow outside of their native habitat. We found this one, androsace sericea, growing on rocks close to the snow line on the Tien Shan Mountains

Nearby was primula minkwitziae

It was on the penultimate day of the holiday that we climbed to just over 3000 metres. Actually we drove most of the way, but had to pass through three security checkpoints (with the right paperwork at the first two, and a bribe to a young soldier at the third). The area we were visiting was only half a mile from a secret lab, used by the Russians during the cold war to develop the hydrogen bomb. Now it is used for investigating outer space, but general visitors are still discouraged.

Oxygraphis glacialis is related to the buttercup, and grows in Canada and Alaska as well as in this area

But oxytropis almaatensis only grows in this area

Lloydia serotina is an interesting plant. It is a relic of the Ice Age, growing in the Alps as well as here. There is also a small population in Snowdonia, but could become extinct in Britain due to climate change

Primula nivalis is known as the snowy primrose, and likes damp, gravel as its growing medium

Here’s two plants for the price of one, saxifraga macrocalyx with yellow flowers, and saxifraga oppositifolia with pink ones, growing together one a rock

The prize plant we had come to see in this area was paraquilegia anemonoides. The flower colour on this varies from very pale to quite a deep blue. We only found this pink colour, but several plants of it

Not so beautiful perhaps, but interesting, was this edelweiss relative, leontopodium fedtschenkoi

Finally for this section, another buttercup relative, paropyrum anemonoides, growing in shady rock crevices

To be continued

• 8 Jul, 2013
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