Kazakhstan Tien Shan (2019)

[Sophie]

The gorgeous endemic Sorbus tianshanica


Saxifraga sibirica


Corallorhiza trifida


Goodyera repens


Orthilia secunda subsp. obtusata

[Sophie]

In the afternoon, we walked from the guesthouse up the juniper forest, and down to Big Almaty Lake. On 13 days of trip, it was our only day of bad weather, with thunderstorm and pouring rain.


Two species of violet growing together - the pale yellow and purple forms of Viola altaica, and the bright yellow flowers of Viola biflora


Papaver croceum


Buds of Allium atrosanguineum


Leontopodium fedtschenkoanum

[Sophie]

Erigeron aurantiacus


Ribes meyeri


Dasiphora phyllocalyx


Viola biflora


Geranium albiflorum

[Sophie]

On our second day in the area, we drove up to the Cosmostation and explored the surroundings, at an altitude of 3,200m.


Angelica brevicaulis


Astragalus lithophilus


Callianthemum alatavicum


Tulipa heterophylla

[Sophie]

Sibbaldia tetrandra


Saxifraga macrocalyx


Androsace sericea


Oxytropis chionobia


Rhodiola coccinea

[Sophie]

Ranunculus albertii


Draba subamplexicaulis


The creeping honeysuckle, Lonicera semenovii


Primula nivalis var. farinosa


Chorispora bungeana

[Sophie]

Tulipa dasystemon


Taraxacum pseudoroseum


Androsace septentrionalis


Chrysosplenium nudicaule


A view of Big Almaty Lake. There's a car park which can get crowded, as city dwellers from Almaty go up to the Lake to get a couple of selfies, and sometimes show off their fancy cars. There was even a van serving refreshments - it was a strange experience to enjoy a takeaway coffee at 3,000m!

[Sophie]

In the afternoon of the second day in Ile Alatau, we walked down the pipeline close to the guesthouse and explored its surroundings (there's a huge pipeline bringing water from the mountain to the city of Almaty).


Aconitum leucostomum


Polemonium caucasicum


Erigeron pseudoseravshanicus


Thesium alatavicum

[Maggi Young]

Fantastic trip, Sophie - you were  indeed  lucky  with the  weather. Great to  see the  wide  range  of  plants seen and  kind  of you  to share  the  photos  here!

[Sophie]

Thanks Maggi, it was a fantastic trip with a good group of plant enthusiasts too!

I have a few more pictures from Ile Alatau to post. This time closer to the Old Observatory, around 2,900m.


Pulsatilla campanella


Aster alpinus


Anemone narcissiflora ssp. protracta


Thermopsis alpina

[Sophie]

Rhodiola linearifolia


Lagotis integrifolia


Dactylorhiza viridis


Gagea serotina


Gentiana uniflora

[Sophie]

Geranium saxatile


Marmots!


Allium platyspathum subsp. amblyophyllum


Geranium saxatile


Dracocephalum nutans

[Sophie]

On the last day, we stopped along the road down to Almaty to look at a verge full of Eremurus altaicus


We found Juniperus sibirica


Allium carolinianum


Allium schoenoprasoides


And finally, the rather beautiful bearded iris, I. albertii

[Sophie]

On the afternoon of the final day, several of us drove to Medeo resort outside of Almaty and boarded a cable car up to Talgar Pass (3,600m), a popular ski resort.


Although the flora wasn't different from what we had seen on previous days, it was an interesting change of setting.



We enjoyed a last kazakh meal in the overpriced ski restaurant, and headed down to Almaty before our flight back to the UK via Istanbul.

[Pauli]

Thanks for this mouthwatering report!