Description of the natural zone of the steppe. Plants of the steppe zone: photos and names

How many poems and stories have been written about the steppe, about its pristine beauty. I live in East Kazakhstan, and we have a lot of steppes. Most beautiful time here it is spring. Everything starts to come alive and bloom. So, I'll tell you what plants grow in this natural area, let's go!

What grows in the steppe

Herbaceous plants grow here, few shrubs and trees. Tulip, iris, feather grass, kermek, etc. are found here.

For example, iris blooms in early spring. It can be immediately recognized by the elongated stem and the flower of a twisted shape. They come in the following colors:

blue;
yellow;
purple;
white.

True, the duration of flowering is only 2 weeks. But another plant - feather grass. It can be recognized by its panicle inflorescences. Seeing a feather grass on the field, you might think that this is one giant blanket. While the plant is young, the hairs are soft, and livestock eats it. But, no matter how beautiful the feather grass would look, it harms agriculture. When the seeds ripen, they scatter along with these hairs throughout the steppe, picked up by the wind.

And steppe cherry grows in the steppe. In height, it reaches about the waist of a person. Ripens already in June. The fruits do not differ in taste from ordinary cherries, and the inhabitants of the steppe eat its berries with pleasure.

What medicinal plants are in the steppe

Medicinal plants also grow in the steppe:

cornflower;
skewer;
immortelle;
chamomile;
sagebrush;
hemorrhagic pharmacy.

Cornflower and burnet are used as an anti-inflammatory agent, and can also be used as an anesthetic. Wormwood is used as a disinfectant and tonic. Well, such a flower as chamomile does have several properties. Although at first glance it seems that this is the most common plant. So, chamomile is used as an antiseptic and hemostatic agent. Does not allow inflammation to spread. Improves liver function and relieves convulsions.

Steppe plants are beautiful. Here you rarely see a tree or a bush, but the whole earth under your feet and for several kilometers ahead is covered with a wide variety of herbs and flowers.

In the temperate and subtropical zones of the two hemispheres, there are steppes - territories with a predominantly flat landscape. Steppes are widespread on all parts of the land, except for Antarctica. However, recently there has been a gradual reduction in the area of the steppe zone due to vigorous activity person.

Description of the natural zone of the Steppe

Extensive natural complex Steppes are located between two intermediate zones: semi-desert and forest-steppe. It is a huge plain, completely covered with small shrubs and herbs. The exceptions are small forest belts near water bodies.

Rice. 1. Steppes occupy very large areas.

Far from all the treeless plain is a steppe. A similar relief and features of the flora, coupled with high humidity, form a zone of swampy meadows, and the influence of low temperatures forms a different natural complex - the tundra.

The soil of the natural zone of the Steppe is represented by chernozem, in which the humus content is the greater, the further north the steppe is. With the advancement to the south, the soils begin to lose their fertility, the chernozem is replaced by chestnut soils with an admixture of salts.

Due to the high fertility of the steppe chernozem and the mild climate, the steppe often becomes a natural and economic zone. It is cultivated for growing a variety of horticultural and agricultural crops, taken to pastures for livestock.

What are the types of steppes

Depending on the characteristics of the vegetation of the steppe, there are:

Climate features

The geographical position of the steppe zone also determines its climate, which varies from temperate continental to sharp continental. Throughout the year, about 250-450 mm falls. atmospheric precipitation.

The main characteristic of all steppes without exception is aridity. Almost all summer is very sunny. Winters are usually snowy, but windy, with frequent snowstorms.

Another important detail of the climate is the sharp temperature drops day and night. Such fluctuations unite steppes with deserts.

Flora and fauna of the steppes

Over the long years of evolution, steppe plants have adapted to the climate of this natural zone. To safely endure intense heat and prolonged drought, they have small, light-colored leaves that curl up under adverse conditions.

Since the steppes occupy very vast spaces, the flora is diverse. The steppe zone is especially rich in all kinds of medicinal herbs and honey plants.

The fauna of the steppes is represented by small ungulates (saigas and antelopes), predators (steppe cats, wolves, foxes), all kinds of rodents (marmots, ground squirrels, jerboas) and an incredible variety of insects and reptiles.

Rice. 3. Steppe flora and fauna needs protection.

Unfortunately, as a result human activity the unique flora and fauna of the steppe zones is under great threat. In order to preserve this natural complex in its original form, nature reserves are being created all over the world, which set themselves far-reaching plans to save the gene pool of fauna and flora.

What have we learned?

The steppe zones are very extensive, and are found on all continents of our planet, with the exception of the ice-covered Antarctica. The distinctive features of the steppe are flat terrain, lack of trees and aridity. Due to the high fertility of the soil, this natural area is used for growing numerous crops. However, due to human activity, the steppes are gradually disappearing from the face of the Earth. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to treat natural resources as carefully as possible.

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The southern part of the forest zone is much warmer and drier than the northern part. Further south, the climate continues to change in the same direction, and the conditions for the existence of trees become less and less favorable. The forest gradually gives way to steppe vegetation, which tolerates heat and drought well. The forest zone is replaced by the forest-steppe zone, and then the steppe zone.

The term “forest-steppe zone” denotes that more or less wide strip where both steppe and forest areas can be found on flat interfluve spaces. In other words, this is an area of joint existence of forest and steppe on watersheds, in the same environmental conditions.

The steppe zone is considered the territory where only steppe vegetation can exist on the interfluves, and forest areas are confined to more or less deep depressions with fairly moist soil (due to winter accumulation of snow, etc.). In this strip, the natural forest on the interfluves no longer grows - it is too dry for it.

Forest-steppe and steppe in total make up approximately 1/6 territory Soviet Union. They stretch in a continuous strip from Moldavia in the west to the Ob in the east. Even further to the east, this strip is interrupted and the steppes are found only in the form of separate islands among the taiga (Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia). The natural vegetation cover of the forest-steppe and steppe has been largely destroyed by man. Huge areas have been plowed up and turned into agricultural land.

In the European part of the country, the forest-steppe is located south of the strip of oak forests, and in the western Cis-Urals and beyond the Urals - south of the strip of birch forests. The southern border of the steppe zone starts from the Black Sea coast in the region of Odessa and northern Crimea, runs along the Kuban at the latitude of Krasnodar, and then goes approximately along the line Volgograd - Uralsk - Aktyubinsk - Karaganda - Semipalatinsk.

The climate of the forest-steppe and steppe regions is characterized by an average annual temperature of +3° to +10°C. Precipitation falls during the year 300-500 mm. A characteristic feature of the climate is the excess of evaporation over precipitation, which creates a moisture deficit. The farther south, the hotter and longer the summer becomes, the less precipitation, and consequently, the greater the moisture deficit. The aridity of the climate increases as you move south.

Soils in the forest-steppe and steppe are mainly various variants of chernozems (typical, ordinary, southern, etc.). Chestnut soils are common in the south.

Consider the vegetation cover of the forest-steppe zone in the European part of our country. In the recent past, when people did not cut down forests in large areas and plowed up the steppes little, we would have found in this strip a motley mosaic of forest and steppe areas of various sizes and shapes, alternating with each other. We would see that the forests are formed by oak and other broad-leaved trees, and in the steppe areas a high and dense grass cover develops, outwardly resembling a colorful meadow. Of course, we do not observe such a picture in the forest-steppe now. The natural vegetation cover here is little preserved, giving way to vast expanses of fields. Only in some places separate islands of the forest darken with lush greenery, small patches of steppes are rarely found.

It is still not very dry in the forest-steppe zone, and the steppe vegetation here is special, relatively moisture-loving. These are the so-called northern, or mixed herbs, steppes. Now they can only be found in areas unsuitable for plowing, for example, on more or less steep slopes of ravines and gullies, in the ravine zone, etc. There is a rather large array of northern steppes in the Central Chernozem Reserve named after Professor V. V. Alekhin near Kursk. Here, the steppe vegetation is under strict protection, under the conditions of a reserved regime.

What are the northern steppes? At the beginning of summer, they are very reminiscent of colorful meadows: the grass cover is dense and high, flowering forbs stand out with bright spots. The steppe is like a lush colorful carpet. Due to their resemblance to meadows, these steppes are sometimes called meadow steppes.

Forbs in the northern steppe are represented by many plant species. Some of them bloom very beautifully and especially attract attention. Such, for example, is meadow sage (Salvia pratensis), which pleases the eye with a dense blue-violet color of its flowers. The flowers are quite large and collected in a loose paniculate inflorescence, noticeable from afar, the shape of the flowers is peculiar - they have a two-lipped corolla, and the upper lip hangs over the lower one in the form of an arched vault. The double-lipped corolla is one of the characteristic features of the mint family, to which sage belongs. The structure of the sage flower deserves attention. In this respect, this plant is somewhat different from most of its relatives. Many labiales have four stamens in a flower, while sage has only two.

Another beautifully flowering plant attracts attention - meadowsweet six-petal(Filipendula hexapetala). The straight, not very tall stem of meadowsweet ends with a loose paniculate inflorescence of small white-pink flowers. Such inflorescences stand out clearly against the green background of the steppe. In the meadowsweet flower, as its specific name indicates, there are usually six petals. Thanks to this feature, this plant is well distinguished not only from its closest relatives (other species of the same genus), but also from other members of the Rosaceae family, to which meadowsweet belongs (flowers with five petals are characteristic of Rosaceae).

The leaves of meadowsweet are also peculiar - strongly elongated, pinnately dissected. They are very graceful. Numerous leaf lobules sit on a long common petiole, coarsely serrated along the edge. To the base of the leaf, the slices become smaller and smaller.

Remarkable Feature meadowsweet - its underground organs. If you carefully dig up the plant, you can see that some thin roots have tuberous thickenings at the end, similar to small nuts. This is the place of deposition of reserve nutrients. Meadowsweet nodules are edible, they can even be eaten raw. Previously, they were often used for food. They were found during archaeological excavations.

Very beautiful during flowering plant called bruise red, or blush(Echium rubrum). Dark red flowers are collected in a dense cylindrical inflorescence, rising up like a candle. It is clearly visible against the green background of the steppe, attracts attention with its juicy red color and regular shape.

The bruise belongs to the borage family and, like many other members of this family, has strongly rough stems and leaves covered with stiff, slightly prickly hairs. It is well felt if you touch the plant.

However, according to the structure of the flowers, the bruise differs from many other borage - its flowers are irregular, zygomorphic. Such flowers have only one plane of symmetry (in most borage flowers, the flowers are regular, actinomorphic).

The thick root of the bruise, going vertically down, used to have an interesting use - they painted their cheeks like blush (hence the name "blush").

It is impossible not to notice in the northern steppe another beautifully flowering plant - goat purple(Scorzonera purpurea). Its stem ends in a small dark pink basket inflorescence, somewhat reminiscent of the shape of a dandelion inflorescence. The leaves of this plant are very similar to the leaves of cereals - the same narrow, elongated. If you tear off a piece of a leaf, white milky juice appears at the break. Kozelets belongs to the Compositae family, and all the flowers in the inflorescence have the same structure as that of the dandelion (true reeds). A remarkable feature of the plant is a completely unusual smell of flowers, reminiscent of the aroma of vanilla.

Perhaps the most ornamental plant of the northern steppe - fine-leaved peony(Paeonia tenuifolia). Its flowers are very good - large, elegant, dark crimson. They are almost as beautiful as the flowers of garden peonies. Their diameter reaches 7 cm. However, the leaves of the plant are not at all the same as those of garden peonies: they are dissected into very narrow, linear lobes. It is now difficult to meet the thin-leaved peony in the steppe: it has been severely exterminated. There is very little of it left. The plant requires urgent, immediate protection measures.

One could name many other beautifully flowering representatives of the forbs of the northern steppes. Among them are blood-red geraniums with bright crimson flowers, elegant bluish-lilac Siberian bell, wedge-shaped larkspur with azure-blue inflorescences and others.

Beautifully bloom in the steppe and legumes, in particular different kinds clover (meadow, mountain, medium and others). Some of them have pink heads, others are white, and others are red. Alpine clover is especially noticeable, the heads of which are very bright, dark crimson. The complex leaves of the plant consist of three rather narrow leaflets.

Among the steppe legumes, we also meet sandy sainfoin(Onobrychis arenaria). Its soft pink flowers are collected in a long, upward inflorescence-brush. The structure of the flowers is somewhat unusual for legumes - the flag and boat are well developed, and the wings are very short, almost imperceptible. The fruit is also unusual - it contains only one seed. It looks peculiar - flat, semicircular, with thick protruding veins, forming a large mesh pattern on the surface. Contrary to the fruits of many others legume fruit sainfoin does not open. It looks more like a nut than a bean. Sainfoin is one of the most drought-resistant legumes. It is a valuable fodder plant widely cultivated in the arid regions of the south (as well as in middle lane clover).

There are, of course, cereals in the northern steppe. However, the role of feather grasses is small: they are scattered in a common motley colorful carpet. There are few species of feather grass here, only the most moisture-loving of them are common (for example, pinnate feather grass, narrow-leaved feather grass). In the northern steppe dominate such cereals that have wide flat leaf blades. Their stems are not collected in large dense tufts, as in feather grasses, but are arranged singly or in small loose groups. These grasses are either rhizomatous or friable.

It is interesting that in the northern steppe we meet many such grasses that grow in meadows (awnless bonfire, meadow bluegrass, meadow timothy, etc.). The same applies to forbs and legumes (in the steppe grass cover, for example, common leucanthemum, mountain clover, eastern sverbiga, multi-flowered ranunculus and many other meadow plants are found). Consequently, the northern steppes are similar to meadows not only in their appearance. They even have a lot general types. All this indicates relatively favorable conditions moisture. There is another similarity with the meadow: on the surface of the soil in the northern steppe, a continuous cover of thuidium moss develops (this moss is characteristic of meadows).

Why are the northern steppes still not classified as meadows? They are considered steppes primarily for the reason that they contain such typically steppe plants as feather grasses, although in small quantities. The presence of feather grasses - feature real steppe. That is the most important thing.

The northern steppe is distinguished by an amazing richness in species - very a large number species per unit area. Try using a white cord to highlight a square area of 1 square meter in the steppe. m and count all the plants found on it. The calculation will take a lot of time and will give amazing results: per 1 sq. m can be up to 70 - 80 species of plants. Such a large number we will not find species per unit area in any of our other plant communities. In this respect, the northern steppe is unique.

The appearance of the steppe changes greatly during the growing season, from spring to autumn. As soon as the snow melts, the steppe looks lifeless, there is only one dry grass on it. It seems that old hay lies on the ground in a continuous layer. But soon the picture changes - early spring plants appear and begin to bloom en masse. The steppe is lit up with bright colors.

One of the first flowering plants - sleep-grass, or lumbago open(Pulsatilla patens). Large purple flowers This plant resembles a bell in shape, and twice the size of a thimble. At first the flowers are drooping, then erect. Until the flower is fully opened, it is clearly seen that on the outside it is white-haired from long protruding hairs. The opened flower attracts attention with its beautiful light purple color. This is how the leaves of a simple perianth are colored, similar to wide petals (there are usually six of them). Numerous yellow stamens and many very small pistils are visible inside the flower. When flowering ends, the beautiful tepals fall off one by one, the stamens dry up. And from a small pile of pistils, a loose fluffy head is formed - a group of fruitlets. Each of them is equipped with a long thin process covered with hairs. Breaking away from the plant, such fruitlets are easily carried by the wind. Sleep-grass belongs to the buttercup family and, like many other species of this family, is poisonous.

Adonis vernalis (Adonis vernalis) blooms very early in the steppe. It has large golden yellow flowers, similar in shape to a star with many rays. Their width reaches 6 cm. In the center of the flower there are numerous stamens and pistils. They are surrounded by 10-16 rather large oblong petals, under which there are five sepals. The leaves of the plant are strongly dissected, they consist of many very narrow, almost filiform lobes. Adonis is one of the valuable medicinal plants. It serves as a raw material for the preparation of drugs that regulate cardiac activity (adonizide and others).

But let's get back to the steppe. Sleep-grass and adonis soon fade, the steppe begins to turn green. New flowering plants appear. Among them is the Hungarian grasshopper (Orobus pannonicus) from the legume family. Its flowers are white, similar to pea flowers, only slightly smaller in size. They are collected several in inflorescences-brushes. The leaves are pinnately compound, consisting of two to four pairs of very narrow leaflets.

Another flowering plant is the leafless iris (Iris aphylla). Its large flowers attract attention with their beautiful dark blue color. They are very similar to the flowers of garden irises. But the plant itself is short, squat, it barely rises above the ground.

At the same time, the forest anemone (Anemone silve-stris) also blooms in the steppe. Her flowers are large and white. They somewhat resemble in shape a small rose with five petals. Usually anemone has only one flower, rarely two. The plant itself is quite tall (the height of the stem reaches half a meter).

The time of flowering of the sochevnik, iris and anemone does not last long - a week and a half or two. And now, against the green background of the steppe, bright spots of new flowering plants appear - blue forget-me-not, golden-yellow ragwort. The steppe is changing its appearance again. But this stage is also short-lived: soon it is replaced by a new one, and then another, third, fourth ... During the warm season, the steppe is transformed many times. This is one of the most characteristic features of the northern steppe.

In the vegetation cover of the northern steppe, some shrubs play a well-known, albeit small role - blackthorn, steppe cherry, bean, various types of spirea, etc. Most often they are found along the edges of forest islands common in the steppe, in large glades in the middle of the forest. Occasionally grow in groups and right on the steppe.

Turn, or prickly plum(Prunus spinosa), - the shrub is not very tall, it is rarely taller than human growth. This is a close relative of the common garden plum, in many ways similar to it. The blackthorn has the same flowers, the same type of fruit. The color of the fruit, like many varieties of plums, is black-blue, its surface is bluish from a dense wax coating. The fruits of the blackthorn are rather small (about 1 cm in diameter), spherical, like a cherry. Their taste is relatively sour, strongly astringent. One of the characteristic features of the turn is strong sharp thorns on the branches. The thorn is a very thorny shrub. You can get through the thickets of it only by severely chipping.

steppe cherry(Cerasus fruticosa) - a shrub even lower than the blackthorn. Its height does not exceed 1.5 m. The structure of the flowers and fruits of the plant is almost the same as that of an ordinary garden cherry, but only their sizes are much smaller. The fruit of the steppe cherry is light red, no more than 1 cm in diameter, in a mature state it is quite sweet, edible. The leaves are small, dark green, slightly glossy. There are no spines on the branches. Interesting feature steppe cherry - the ability to give root shoots. Due to this, the plant easily forms thickets, quickly spreading to the sides.

Anemone forest; Turn - a branch with fruits

Steppe cherry - a branch with fruits; Spiraea hornate

Bobovnik, or almond low(Amygdalus dad), also has a small height - much less than human height. It blooms in spring, before foliage appears. At this time, the shrub is very elegant - its branches are completely covered with many bright pink flowers. In summer, on the branches among the leaves, you can see the original fruits of the plant, which have an ovoid-rounded shape and are covered with hard hairs. Similar but more large fruits has a common almond, which is grown in our gardens in the south. Bobovnik is a close relative of the garden almond (another species of the same genus).

Bobovnik - a branch with flowers

These are the most common steppe shrubs.

Let us now turn to the forests found in the forest-steppe (as we know, they alternate between the rivers and the steppe spaces). These forest islands are usually formed by broad-leaved trees. The main dominant tree here is the pedunculate oak. Common ash, Norway maple, small-leaved linden and some other tree species are mixed with it. Among herbaceous plants and shrubs, there are many that are found in oak forests in the south of the forest zone. Here we will find the common sedge, the hairy sedge, the spring meadow, the warty euonymus, etc.

However, there is, of course, no complete similarity between the oak forests of the forest-steppe and the oak forests of the forest zone. They differ significantly in the species composition of plants. In the oak forests of the forest-steppe there are no some more northern, relatively moisture-loving species (for example, Zelenchuk). But at the same time, more southern ones appear (for example, Siberian blueberry, Tatar maple).

The islands of the forest, common among the steppe, are usually strongly disturbed. The trees here were cut down many times, after which they were restored again due to the overgrowth from the stump. The forest has survived to our time only due to the fact that it includes tree species that can be renewed by coppice (oak is especially well renewed). The trees in such a forest are stunted, crooked, dry-topped, have an oppressed appearance. Usually the stumps from which they grew are also clearly visible. It is precisely such heavily disturbed forests that are found among the steppe, for example, in the Central Chernozem Reserve near Kursk. They are quite young in age, have a relatively simple structure, and the species composition of plants here is rather poor.

Real, slightly disturbed forest-steppe oak forests look completely different. To get to know them, you need to visit areas of the old forest in some well-preserved oak grove, for example, in Tellermanovskaya Grove or Shipovy Forest (both arrays are located in the Voronezh Region). We will see here a mighty old oak forest, dense and shady. The trees are several girths thick, straight and very tall (up to 30 - 35 m). These forest giants amaze with their power, some of them are more than 200 years old. The largest and thickest are oaks, lindens and ash trees. The rest of the trees are lower and thinner.

The species composition of trees and shrubs is very rich. Here, for example, three types of maple are found at once - holly, field and Tatar. The first tree is quite tall, has large palmate-lobed leaves with sharp lobes at the end. Field maple has smaller leaves and rounded lobes at the end. And the tree itself is small - no higher than 8 m. The Tatar maple differs from other maples in its whole leaves, completely not divided into lobes. Such leaves bear some resemblance to linden leaves. This type of maple is a low tree or shrub, its height does not exceed 6-10 m. When a plant has only leaves and no fruits, it is difficult to think that it is maple.

It is most interesting to visit the forest-steppe oak forest in early spring as soon as the snow melts. The forest at this time was not yet dressed in foliage. Dark gray columns of trunks are clearly visible, above them are powerful leafless crowns of forest giants. Shrubs are also without leaves. It is light in the forest, there is a lot of sun, you can see far around. The most amazing thing at this time is on earth. You enter the forest from an open place and stop amazed: under the crowns of old trees, azure lakes seem to splash. It is in the mass blooms blue snowdrop, or Siberian blueberry (Scilla sibirica). Coming closer, you see that the blueberry forms dense thickets. There are unusually many stems of a plant with cornflower blue flowers. Each stalk bears only two or three flowers, but how beautiful they are! Six tepals of a simple perianth form a semblance of an asterisk; inside the flower are graceful stamens and a greenish spherical pistil. Scilla is a small plant. In addition to the stem with flowers, it also has leaves - narrow, linear-lanceolate in shape, slightly grooved. They rise straight up from the base of the stem. Spillage is one of the ephemeroid plants. It blooms very early, quickly fades and then forms fruit-boxes. By the time the seeds ripen, the stem carrying the box falls to the ground, and the box itself opens. Mature blueberry seeds are taken away by ants (each seed has a special fleshy appendage that attracts these insects). Already at the beginning of summer, when the forest is completely dressed in foliage, the entire aerial part of the plant turns yellow and dries up. Only a small bulb remains alive, hidden in the soil. It is dormant for many months, and the next spring again gives rise to leaves and stems with cornflower blue flowers. And this is repeated every year.

In early spring, not only one blueberry blooms on the ground under the crowns of old trees. Following it, other ephemeroids soon appear - ranunculus anemone, various Corydalis. All these plants with bright flowers - blue, yellow, lilac - form a picturesque colorful carpet. You will not see such a quantity of flowers in early spring in our other forests.

Let us now consider the vegetation cover of the steppe zone. In the recent past, steppes reigned supreme in this territory, completely covering the interfluve plains. Now there is very little such vegetation left, in its place we find arable land and other agricultural land almost everywhere.

In the steppe zone, the climate is much drier than in the forest-steppe, and therefore the steppe vegetation is completely different. Southern, or feather-grass, steppes are common here. Any significant massifs of such steppes can now be seen only in protected areas, for example, in the Askania-Nova reserve.

The southern steppe is the realm of feather grasses. The appearance of vegetation is peculiar, unique - a silvery, gray sea, waving from the wind. Against this background, only here and there are scattered bright spots of flowering herbs. And in places it doesn't exist at all.

The basis of the vegetation cover of the southern steppe is tufted grasses with narrow leaves, primarily feather grasses. The feather grass grows in a peculiar way - in the form of a large, very dense bush. Below, near the ground, numerous shoots are pressed close to each other, higher they diverge somewhat, are located more loosely. The leaves of the feather grass are very narrow and almost always folded lengthwise. This shape of the leaf blade serves as a device to reduce evaporation from the leaf tissues (this is very important in arid climates). The feather grass leaf is always folded in such a way that the stomata are on its inner surface. There is no strong air movement here, and the evaporation of water from the stomata is slow. Feathers are fairly drought-resistant plants that tolerate a lack of moisture in the soil (such plants are called xerophytes).

Inflorescences of feather grass are loose panicles with rather large spikelets containing only one flower. Like many other cereals, the flower is dressed on the outside with two scales (they are called the lower and upper lemmas). The flower has a pistil with two pinnate stigmas and three stamens. During the flowering period, the scales move apart, and the hairy stigmas of the pistil and stamens protrude outward. However, in one respect, feather grass is unlike other cereals - it has a very special lower lemma. This dense film passes at the top into a thin and extremely long filamentous appendage - the awn. The length of the awn can reach 40 cm. In some feather grasses, the awn is naked, similar to hair, in others it is feathery, covered with thin protruding hairs. A characteristic feature of the spine is that it is articulated in the middle.

The fruit of feather grass, like other cereals, is a grain. After maturation, the caryopsis is separated from the mother plant along with the hard lemmas covering it, one of which is equipped with an awn. It is clear that the awn (especially pinnate) contributes to the spread of fruits by wind. The fruit of the feather grass is very narrow, and that part of it, which is opposite to the awn, is sharp, prickly. Near the point there is a crown of backward-facing hairs, which play an important role. When the fruit sticks into the ground with its end, these hairs fix it, preventing it from coming back. Then, thanks to a special device, the grain seems to be screwed into the soil. This ensures better germination of seeds (they immediately appear in the soil, and do not remain on its surface).

Feathers dominate the southern steppe, forming the basis of the vegetation cover. However, there are few species of them. More drought-resistant feather grasses are common here - not at all those in the northern steppes. Most often there are two types - hairy feather grass, or tyrsa, and Lessing's feather grass, or feather grass.

Hairy feather grass(Stipa capillata)- large plant reaching 70-80 cm in height. Its characteristic feature is bare hair-like awns, as a result of which the plant got its name. The spine is articulated and twisted at the same time. Its length is 13-18 cm. Hairy feather grass is a fodder plant of low quality.

Feather Lessing(Stipa lessingiana) is somewhat smaller. Its awns are completely different - pinnate, covered with relatively short hairs. The length of the awns is 15 - 25 cm. The lemmas are small, rather short (their length without the awn is 8-11 mm). Many other feather grasses have much longer lemmas. This plant is considered the best of the feather grasses in terms of feed.

drooping sage; Prickly prickly - part of the stem with flowers

In the southern steppe, in addition to feather grass, some other turf grasses with narrow leaves are also common. Plays a particularly important role tipchak, or grooved fescue(Festuca sulcata). This plant forms the same "bushes" as the feather grass, but much smaller. The height of the tipchak does not exceed half a meter. Its tufts are looser than those of feather grass, and the leaves are shorter and thinner. The panicle inflorescence also has a completely different look. Flowers do not have long filiform awns. Tipchak is considered a good fodder plant (for pasture use of the territory).

A smaller role is played in the southern steppe by another turf grass with narrow leaves - thin-legged, or slender keleria (Koeleria gracilis). This plant is easy to distinguish from fescue by a dense cylindrical inflorescence of a slightly Silvery color. Other than that, they have a lot in common. Both plants almost never reach such a height as feather grasses. These are relatively low-growing cereals. In an earlier stage of development, before flowering, keleria is a good fodder plant.

There are few forbs in the southern steppe. It plays a secondary role here, represented by a few species. Among them are drooping sage (Salvia nutans). Its blue inflorescences of a characteristic form can be seen in some places against the background of feather grasses. The flowers of the plant are collected on a high stem in small dense whorls. The top of the stem, bearing the largest group of flowers, is always lowered down. It looks like the stem is wilted. This is the hallmark of this plant. All sage leaves are located at the bottom, at the very base of the stem.

Ethiopian sage (Salvia aet-hiopis) can also be found in the southern steppe. It attracts attention because its stem and leaves are densely shaggy with long hairs and covered with white flakes. The flowers of the plant are white. This sage differs from all others. It is not difficult to find out that we have sage in front of us: the corolla of the flowers is two-lipped, and there are only two stamens in the flower.

Another representative of the herbs in the southern steppe is prickly thorn grass (Phlomis pungens). It, like sage, belongs to the mint family. Its flowers are pink, with a two-lipped corolla, collected on the stem in small groups (whorls). The appearance of the zopnik is peculiar - the stem strongly branches directly from the ground, the side branches extend in all directions and, in turn, also branch out. The general shape of the plant is somewhat reminiscent of a ball. The diameter of such a ball of branches reaches half a meter or more. In late autumn, when the seeds ripen in the zopnik and it is already dry, the main stem near the ground becomes very fragile. With a strong gust of wind, the “ball” breaks off and begins to roll across the steppe. The wind drives this ball of branches farther and farther until it stops at some obstacle. Rolling, the zopnik scatters its seeds. Scattering of seeds occurs gradually, and not immediately. Plants of this type are called "tumbleweed". Such plants are typical for the southern steppes. These include Ethiopian sage, kachim paniculata, common eryngium and some others.

The southern steppes are characterized by a relatively low, and most importantly, very sparse grass cover. This is typical of dry climates. The less precipitation falls, the more sparse the vegetation cover is, the lower it is.

In the southern steppe, feather grass and other turf grasses do not completely cover the soil. Between the "bushes" of cereals there are empty spaces that are not occupied by plants. However, they are empty only in summer. In spring, you can often see many small ephemeral plants here. Among them we meet spring grains, sickle-shaped hornhead, spring speedwell and some others. Their height rarely exceeds 10 cm. Rapidly developing from seeds, these small annual herbs have time to not only bloom before the onset of the summer heat, but also give new seeds. Ephemera make good use of the short spring period when there is enough moisture for their development. They seem to be escaping from the summer drought. These plants overwinter as seeds. The participation of ephemers in the vegetation cover is one of the characteristic features of the southern steppes.

It should be noted that the "empty" gaps between the tufts of cereals are occupied not only by ephemera. Some other, more primitive representatives of the plant world are also found here - lichens, ground algae. Of the lichens, for example, wandering parmelia is common. Strongly dissected, like lace, whitish plates of this lichen lie freely on the soil, completely unattached to it. Here you can also find small black crusts of nostoc algae. These plants are well tolerated. summer heat and drought. Drying to an air-dry, brittle state, they do not die, but, as it were, fall into deep hibernation. It is necessary to pass the rain - these plants come to life again.

Another characteristic feature of the southern steppes is a rather low species richness. For 1 sq. m here you can count no more than 12-15 species of plants. This is much less than in the northern steppes.

So, we got acquainted with the vegetation cover of two types of steppes, got an idea about their specific features. It must be emphasized that only the extreme, most strongly differing types were discussed. In nature, of course, there are also intermediate, transitional variants (for example, feather grass steppes with a large participation of forbs or northern steppes with an admixture of southern feather grasses). The northern steppes, alternating with forests within the forest-steppe, pass into the southern steppes not suddenly, but gradually.

Until now, we have talked only about the indigenous, virgin steppe vegetation, little changed by man. However, both in the forest-steppe and in the steppe zone, the natural vegetation cover is more or less severely disturbed almost everywhere.

One form of such violation is grazing. Under the influence of grazing, if it is sufficiently intensive, the virgin steppe changes greatly. Some plants decrease in number or completely disappear, while others, on the contrary, appear or expand their distribution. Worst of all endure grazing feather grass - they quickly fall out of the herbage. The steppe is deprived of its main, most characteristic components. Fescue is more stable - it disappears only with very strong etching.

However, grazing is not fatal for all steppe plants. Some of them not only do not suffer, but even grow stronger, become more abundant. These are, first of all, those species that are not eaten by livestock because of their toxicity or some other properties ( bad taste, spines, etc.). Taking advantage of the weakening or complete loss of their competitors from the herbage, such plants spread strongly.

Intensive grazing also leads to the introduction of alien species into the steppe. weeds, which do not exist in the virgin lands.

The virgin steppe, like any native vegetation, has the ability to recover after destruction. This recovery process can be observed when any area of arable land located in the middle of the steppe is no longer plowed up, left untouched. Abandoned arable land, or otherwise a fallow, is quickly covered with plants. First, weeds settle and grow luxuriantly. But after some time, real steppe species begin to penetrate the site from the surrounding steppe - forbs, legumes, cereals; the weeds are gradually disappearing. Over time, the vegetation more and more resembles the steppe. After several decades, the herbage on the fallow becomes almost the same as on the virgin lands.

The forest-steppe and steppe zones are the main breadbasket of our country. It is here that the main sown areas of grain crops, primarily wheat, are concentrated. It is from here that the largest amount of bread comes to the bins of the Motherland. Of the cereals, in addition to wheat, barley and millet are also cultivated in the fields. Large areas are occupied by corn. Fertile chernozem soils are especially favorable for growing sunflowers and sugar beets. Plentiful harvests of apples, pears, plums are harvested in orchards, and in more southern regions - also cherries and apricots. Watermelons, pumpkins, melons ripen on melons. The forest-steppe and steppe regions give the country a wide variety of agricultural products - bread, vegetables, fruits, raw materials for Food Industry etc.

Mountain steppes with lush alpine vegetation and high mountains, characterized by sparse and inconspicuous vegetation, mainly consisting of grains and breakwort.
Meadow. Steppes, characterized by the presence of small forests that form glades and edges.
Real. Steppes with feather grass and fescue growing on them in great predominance. These are the most typical steppe plants.
Saz - steppes, consisting of plants that adapt to an arid climate, shrubs.
Desert steppes on which desert grasses grow tumbleweed, wormwood, prutnyak
It is also necessary to say a few words about the forest-steppes, which are characterized by the alternation of deciduous forests and coniferous forests with areas of steppes, since the plants of the steppe and forest-steppe differ only in subspecies.

The steppe has its embodiment on any continent except Antarctica, and on different continents it has its own name: in North America- it's a prairie South America- pampas (pampas), in South America, Africa and Australia - this is a savannah. In New Zealand, the steppe is called Tussoki.

Let us consider in more detail which plants grow in the steppe.

Plant species of the steppe

Krupka. This is annual plant cruciferous family, growing on the highlands and in the tundra. There are about 100 varieties of grains, typical for our steppes. It is characterized by a branched stem with oblong leaves, crowned with tassels of yellow flowers. Flowering period April - July. In folk herbal medicine, krupka is used as a hemostatic, expectorant and diuretic.
Breaker. It is also an annual plant, about 25 cm long and with oblong leaves, many flower arrows, each of which ends in an inflorescence consisting of tiny white flowers. Prolomnik is used as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic and hemostatic, as well as an anticonvulsant for epilepsy.
Poppy. Depending on the species, it is an annual or perennial grass with flower buds on long peduncles. It grows on rocky slopes, near mountain streams and rivers, in fields, along roads. And although poppies are poisonous, they are widely used in herbal medicine as a sedative and hypnotic for insomnia, as well as for some diseases of the intestines and bladder.
Tulips are perennial herbaceous plants of the steppe of the lily family with large and bright flowers. They mainly grow in semi-desert, desert and mountainous areas.
Astragalus. This plant has more than 950 species of various colors and shades, growing in desert and dry steppes, in the forest zone and in alpine meadows. It is widely used for edema, dropsy, gastroenteritis, diseases of the spleen, as a tonic, as well as for headaches and hypertension.
Feather grass. It is also a variety of herbs. There are more than 60 of them, and the most common of them is the feather grass. It is a perennial plant of the grass family. The feather grass grows up to 1 meter tall with smooth stems and spinous leaves. Stipa is used as a decoction in milk for goiter and paralysis.
Mullein. This is a large (up to 2 m) plant with hairy leaves and large yellow flowers. Studies of the plant have shown the presence of many useful substances in its flowers, such as flavonoids, saponins, coumarin, gum, essential oil, aucubin glycoside, the content of ascorbic acid and carotene. Therefore, the plant is actively used as a food additive in salads and hot dishes, drinks are prepared, and they are also eaten fresh.
Melissa officinalis. It is a perennial tall herb with a pronounced lemon scent. The stems of the plant are crowned with bluish-lilac flowers, which are collected in false rings. Lemon balm leaves contain essential oil, ascorbic acid, and some organic acids.
Camel's thorn is a semi-shrub, up to 1 meter in height, with a powerful root system, bare stems with long spines and red (pink) flowers. The camel's thorn is widespread in the riverine space, grows along ditches and canals, on wastelands and irrigated lands. The plant contains many vitamins, some organic acids, rubber, resins, tannins, essential oil, as well as carotene and wax. A decoction of the plant is used for colitis, gastritis and stomach ulcers.
Sagebrush. It is a herbaceous or semi-shrub plant found almost everywhere. The whole plant has a straight stem with thin pinnately divided leaves and yellowish flowers collected in inflorescences. Wormwood is used as a spicy plant, and the essential oil is used in perfumery and cosmetics. Wormwood is also important as a fodder plant for livestock.
So, we have considered only some types of steppe plants. And, of course, differences in the landscape leave their mark on the appearance of the herbs growing on it, but, nevertheless, some general properties. So steppe plants are characterized by:
- Branched root system
- bulb roots
- Fleshy stems and thin, narrow leaves

VEGETATION of the steppes consists of various herbs able to tolerate drought. In some plants, the stems and leaves are strongly pubescent or have a developed wax coating; others have stiff stems covered with narrow leaves that curl up in the dry season (cereals); still others have fleshy and juicy stems and leaves with a supply of moisture. Some plants have a deep root system or form tubers, bulbs, rhizomes.

The steppe zone is one of the main land biomes. Under the influence, first of all, of climatic factors, zonal features of biomes were formed. The steppe zone is characterized by a hot and arid climate during most of the year, and in spring there is a sufficient amount of moisture, so the steppes are characterized by the presence of a large number of ephemera and ephemeroids among plant species, and many animals are also confined to a seasonal lifestyle, falling into hibernation in arid and cold season.

Steppe almond. Photo: Sirpa Tahkamo

The steppe zone is represented in Eurasia by the steppes, in North America by the prairies, in South America by the pampas, and in New Zealand by the Tussok communities. These are spaces of the temperate zone, occupied by more or less xerophilous vegetation. From the point of view of the conditions for the existence of the animal population, the steppes are characterized by the following features: a good view, an abundance of plant food, a relatively dry summer period, the existence of a summer period of rest or, as it is now called, semi-rest. In this respect, steppe communities differ sharply from forest communities. Among the predominant life forms of steppe plants, grasses stand out, the stems of which are crowded into turfs - turf grasses. In the Southern Hemisphere, such turfs are called Tussocks. Tussocks are very tall and their leaves are less rigid than those of the tufts of steppe grasses of the Northern Hemisphere, since the climate of communities close to the steppes of the Southern Hemisphere is milder.

Rhizome grasses that do not form turfs, with single stems on creeping underground rhizomes, are more widely distributed in the northern steppes, in contrast to turf grasses, whose role in the Northern Hemisphere increases towards the south.
Among the dicotyledonous herbaceous plants, two groups stand out - the northern colorful forbs and the southern colorless. The colorful forbs are characterized by a mesophilic appearance and large bright flowers or inflorescences, for the southern, colorless forbs - a more xerophilic appearance - pubescent stems into leaves, often narrow or finely dissected leaves, flowers inconspicuous, dim.
Typical for the steppes are annual ephemera, which fade in the spring after flowering and die off, and perennial ephemeroids, in which, after the death of the ground parts, tubers, bulbs, and underground rhizomes remain. Colchicum is peculiar, which develops foliage in the spring, when there is still a lot of moisture in the steppe soils, retains only underground organs for the summer, and in autumn, when the whole steppe looks lifeless, yellowed, gives bright lilac flowers (hence its name).

The steppe is characterized by shrubs, often growing in groups, sometimes single. These include spireas, caragans, steppe cherries, steppe almonds, and sometimes some types of juniper. The fruits of many shrubs are eaten by animals.
Xerophilous mosses, fruticose and scale lichens, sometimes blue-green algae from the genus Nostok grow on the soil surface. During the summer dry period, they dry up, after rains they come to life and assimilate.

In the steppe there are plants that are rather nondescript, perhaps that is why they are unfamiliar to many: grits and daggers. They appear among the first on dry ridges, sand mounds, hills and hills.

Krupka from the cruciferous family is most often found in the highlands and in the tundra. The total number of its species in our country reaches one hundred. The most common are Siberian grains (found in meadows, dry tundra, alpine and subalpine lawns almost throughout the country, including the Arctic and the mountain systems of Central Asia and Siberia), as well as oak grains (widely distributed, except for the Arctic, in fields, dry meadows and steppes). Outwardly, these grains are very similar to each other.

Krupka oakwood is an annual plant with a branched, leafy stem up to 20 centimeters tall, in the lower part of which there is a basal rosette of oblong leaves, and in the upper part there are loose tassels of yellowish flowers. It blooms in April - July. Chemical composition grains has been poorly studied, it is only known that alkaloids are contained in the aerial part. The plant was used in folk herbal medicine as a hemostatic agent along with the shepherd's purse. It is believed that the aerial part, together with the seeds, has an expectorant and antitussive effect, as a result of which it is used for whooping cough and various bronchial diseases. An infusion of herbs is popular as an external remedy for various skin diseases (rashes and others), especially those of allergic origin in children (while taking an infusion or decoction of herbs externally and internally - as a blood purifier) o In Chinese medicine, plant seeds are popular, which are used as an expectorant and diuretic.

Krupka Siberian is a perennial with dark yellow flowers. Deserves, like the oak groats, study for medical purposes.
There are 35 species of primroses from the primrose family in our country, distributed mainly in the mountains of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberia. The most common is the northern breakwort - a small, up to 25 centimeters, annual plant with a basal rosette of medium-sized oblong leaves and, as a rule, numerous, up to 20 pieces, flower arrows up to 25 centimeters high, each of which ends with an umbrella-shaped inflorescence, consisting of 10-30 tiny white flowers. There is a northern breakwater almost throughout the country - in the forest-steppe, steppe, forest and polar-arctic zones: on upland and steppe meadows, rocky slopes, in sparse pine and other forests, and he especially loves. willingly occupies plowed clearings and deposits like a weed.

The plant has long been used in medicinal purposes the people of our country. Recently, medicine has been studying the possibility of obtaining contraceptive (contraceptive) drugs from it. The studies carried out gave good results - the age-old folk experience of using the prolomnik was fully confirmed. It is believed that the prolomnik has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, its decoction or paste is used for leucorrhoea in women and gonorrhea in men, hernia and goiter, gastralgia, urolithiasis, especially widely - with sore throat (gargle and take it orally). Prolomnik is also known to be used as an anticonvulsant in epilepsy and eclampsia (seizures, including in children), as well as a diuretic and hemostatic agent.

The grits are oak. Photo: Matt Lavin

Peculiar life form steppe plants are tumbleweed. This life form includes plants that break off at the root collar as a result of drying out, less often - rotting, and are carried by the wind across the steppe; at the same time, sometimes rising into the air, sometimes hitting the ground, they scatter the seeds. In general, the wind plays a significant role in the transfer of seeds of steppe plants. There are a lot of flying plants here. The role of the wind is great not only in the pollination of plants, but the number of species in the pollination of which insects take part is less here than in forests.

Features of steppe plants:

a) Small leaves. The leaves of steppe grasses are narrow, not wider than 1.5-2 mm. In dry weather, they are folded lengthwise, and their evaporative surface becomes even smaller (adaptation to reduce evaporation). In some steppe plants, leaf blades are very small (bedstraws, kachima, thyme, gerbils, saltworts), in others they are divided into the thinnest slices and segments (gills, adonis, etc.).
b) pubescence. A whole group of steppe plants creates a special "microclimate" for itself due to abundant pubescence. Many species of astragalus, sage and others protect themselves from the sun's rays with the help of pubescence and thus fight drought.
c) wax coating. Many use a layer of wax or other waterproof substance that is secreted from the skin. This is another adaptation of steppe plants to drought. It is possessed by plants with a smooth, shiny surface of the leaves: spurges, gills, Russian cornflower, etc.
d) The special position of the leaves. Avoiding overheating, some steppe grasses (naeolovaty, serpuhi, chondrils) place their leaves edge to the sun. And such a steppe weed as wild lettuce generally orients its leaves in a north-south vertical plane, representing a kind of living compass.
e) Coloring. Among the summer steppe grasses, there are few bright green plants, the leaves and stems of most of them are painted in dull, faded colors. This is another adaptation of steppe plants that helps them protect themselves from excessive lighting and overheating (wormwood).
e) Powerful root system. root system 10-20 times greater than above-ground organs in mass. There are many so-called soddy cereals in the steppe. These are feather grass, fescue, thin-legged, wheatgrass. They form dense tufts, having a diameter of 10 cm or more. Turf contains a lot of remnants of old stems and leaves and has a remarkable ability to intensively absorb thawed and rain water and hold it for a long time.
g) Ephemera and ephemeroids. These plants develop in the spring when the soil is sufficiently moist. Thus, they have time to fade and bear fruit before the onset of the dry period (tulips, irises, saffron, goose onions, adonis, etc.).