Botanical tours in Katon-Karagay park.

To travel is to live” 
Hans Christian Andersen.

Photo walks across Katon-Karagay park.

Within the Katon-Karagay national natural park allocate four main high-rise zones: perpetual snow belt, tundra, meadow, mountain, forest, mountain loessial, meadow, steppe. A certain species of vegetation is characteristic of each of zones.
So in a perpetual snow belt zone lichens and mountain species of grassy plants grow: leopard's-bane (Doronicum), painted daisy (Pyrethrum hybridum), primrose (Primula), golden-cup (Ranunculus gen.). The top tier of the tundra of a meadow zone mosses, lichens, carex-like kobresia (Cobresia, stonecrop (Rhodiola Sedum), snow grass (Poa), gentian (Gentiana), draba (Draba) and bushes (ground birch (Betula rotundifolia), Hiary honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula), ipecac (Filipendula, Spiraea) occupy, dwarfish forms of a willow).
Below the Alpine meadows with sedge, columbine follow (Aquilegia gen.), violet (Viola gen.), gentian (Gentiana) and many other brightly blossoming plants for what such meadows call colourful. On subalpine meadows carthamoid rhapontic, Saussurea, Greater Patrinia grow (Patrinia, rough fescue grass (Festuca altaica).
The main forest breeds of a mountain forest zone are the larch, a cedar, a fir-tree. The smaller spaces are occupied by the woods from a fir, birches, a poplar, aspens, willows. Also the underbrush is various: birch round-leaved, raspberry ordinary.
The grassy cover is formed by cereals, a sedge, bilberry and a wild grasses. The mountain forest meadow steppe zone is presented deciduous and mixed (birch deciduous aspen) by the woods with different herbs herbage and bushes.
From bushes the dogrose, a honeysuckle Altai, a meadowsweet, a guelder-rose meet. Among the plants included in the Red List in the park water-lily tulip (Tulipa) Siberian Trout Lily Erythronium sibiricum, golden root (Rhodiola rosea Hiema) and other types grow. Flora berry and herbs is rich. 

Authority:
Heats of N. Meetings at "center of the universe" / N. Zhorov//Arguments and the Facts.-2003.-№ 29. - (Gas. in gas. "AIF. Kazakhstan".-C.3). Zhumagulov E. In the region of primitive beauty / E. Zhumagulov//the Kazakhstan truth.-2003. May-17. (No. 143-144). - C.1. Zhumagulov E. Katon-Karagay: generous wood of Altai / E. Zhumagulov//Ecological courier.-2003. June-5. (No. 11-12). - Page 4. Katon-Karagaysky national park - present Noah's Ark / Podgot. Yu. Nazarenko//Ore Altai.-2002. June-15. - Page 21. Katon-Karagaysky natural park//Physical geography of East Kazakhstan: Western and East subregions: Studies. grant. - Ust-Kamenogorsk, 2002. - Page 147-149. Kislenkova V. Katon-Karagaysky to the natural Belukha park in VKO was given the status National. / V. Kislenkova//Panorama.-2000.-1 Dec. (No. 47). - C.11. Xing G. To promote preservation of a biodiversity / G. Xing//Ecology and sustainable development.-2003.-№ 4. - Page 31-32. Shepel O. To national park to be / O. Shepel//Ustinka plus.-2000.-1 Dec. (No. 48). - Page 4.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.