Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, located in Central Asia and stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Altai and from the Urals to the Tien Shan. Thanks to such a vast territory, Kazakhstan has a uniquely rich and diverse flora.
The landscape of Kazakhstan is mostly made up of steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. The northern regions of the country belong to the forest-steppe zone, and the Kazakh Altai is covered with taiga forests. Forests in Kazakhstan occupy 1.2% of the territory, including saxaul forests and shrubs – 4.2%.
These include birch and aspen groves of the northern regions, island forests of the north-west and the right bank of the Irtysh, pine forests of the Kazakhstan uplands, mixed and coniferous forests of Altai and Saur, Dzungarian Alatau and Tien Shan. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar are found in coniferous forests, among shrubs one can distinguish dogrose, meadowsweet, yellow acacia, and in deserts – tamarisk, dzhuzgun, sand acacia, saxaul.
The world-famous relic ash grove with an area of 500 hectares is located on the Charyn River, as a rare Sogdian ash grows in its lower reaches. This plant has more than 25 million years and has been preserved in its original form.
Let’s talk about the most interesting plant species representing the flora of Kazakhstan:
Saxaul
Without exaggeration, we can say that saxaul is a symbol of the Kazakh desert. This tree-like plant has a crooked trunk, a massive crown and needle-like leaves. The bark of these trees is white, brown or black, and from 1.5 to 12 meters high. The main functions of saxaul are a forest formation and soil protection, that’s why it is used in the fight against desertification of territories. For a long time, saxaul was the only fuel in Central Asia, because saxaul wood is the best quality fuel.
The average life span of a saxaul is 40–45 years. There are three types of saxaul in Kazakhstan – the so-called black, white and zaisan. Zaisan can be found mainly in the foothills, black and white saxaul are used to conserve forests.
Tulip
Kazakhstan is the birthplace of tulips. It is this country that is considered the place where tulips first appeared 10 million years ago. The name of the flower comes from the Persian word toliban due to the similarity of the buds with an oriental headdress. Of the 65 known species of tulips in Central Asia in Kazakhstan, there are 35 species of wild tulips, of which 18 are listed in the Red Book and protected by the state.
Let’s go through the most popular types of tulips:
Greigii Tulip – the most common species in Kazakhstan. It is protected by the state and grows in the Aksu-Zhabagly and Karatau reserves, in the specialized botanical reserve “Krasnaya Gorka” in the Turkestan region and in the Berkara botanical reserve in the Zhambyl region. This type of tulip begins to bloom at the end of March. The height of the stem is usually no more than 40 centimeters. The flower has a color palette from red to orange, and the shape resembles a glass with three concatenated and three standing petals.
Kaufmann’s Tulip, undersized species, is distinguished by the brightness of colors. In most varieties, the petals are painted in two or three or more shades. The unusual, star-shaped flower shape is remembered by lovers of these flowers. It can be found only in the mountains of the Western Tien Shan (from the Ugam Range to the western part of the Kyrgyz Alatau) and Karatau. In the lowlands, Kaufmann’s tulip begins to bloom from late March to late June, in the upper mountain belts – until early July.
Albert Tulip is listed in the Red Book. The flowering time of this species is the beginning of April to the end of the first decade of May. It occurs in the Syrdarya Karatau, Chu-Ili mountains, in the south of the Betpakdala desert, in the Chulak mountains and along the banks of the Kapshagai reservoir.
Regel Tulip is considered the most unusual of all Kazakh tulips. Outwardly, it is very similar to water lilies growing on rivers. It begins to grow in late March – early April and blooms for a very short period of time. Grows on screes, rocky slopes and rocky ledges, in arid and hot places. Listed in the Red Book, this species occurs at the foot of the Chu-Ili mountains.
Ostrovsky Tulip blooms from late April to mid-May. It occurs on slopes, among shrubs in the lower and middle belts, in the southern part of the Chu-Ili mountains and the eastern part of the Kyrgyz ridge. Listed in the Red Book.
Turanga
Turanga, considered the most tenacious tree on the planet, grows in Kazakhstan.
The relic thicket is located near the city of Balkhash near the Tokyrau River. Turanga is unusual in that it can withstand drought, and the roots of this poplar are able to penetrate in search of groundwater to a depth of 30 meters, which allows it to grow where no other plant can survive. Hardy and resistant to drought, turanga is listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan.
