Mongolian plants (photos)

Plant genuses photographed included: Acanthaceae (Aconitum); Alliaceae (Allium); Asteraceae (Centaureum, Tusillago or Patesites); Betulaceae (Betula); Carophyllaceae (Dianthus versicolor?); Convolvulaceae (Ipomoea); Crassulaceae (Sempervivum, Sedum); Dipsacaceae (Scabiosa); Ericaceae (Arbutus, Rhododendron dahuricum); Fabaceae (Crotolaria, Vicia, Medicago, Astragalus, Oxytropis?, Thermopsis); Geraniaceae (Geranium); Hemerocallidaceae (Hemerocallis); Iridaceae (Iris); Labiatae (Salvia); Lamiaceae; Liliaceae (Lilium, Lilium pumilum); Melanthiaceae (Veratrum); Orchidaceae (Dactylorhiza); Papaveraceae (Papaver, Meconopsis); Poaceae; Polygonaceae (Rheum); Primulaceae (Primula); Ranunculaceae (Aquilegia, Delphinium grandiflorum, Trollius asiaticus, Ranunculus, Clematis); Rosaceae (Cotoneaster, Dryas, Fragaria?, Potentilla, Rosa); Salicaceae; Scrophulariaceae (Pedicularis); Theymelaeacae (Stellera chamaejasme); Zygophyllaceae (Zygophyllum).

For the plant identifications, thanks to Mike Todd, Bronwyn Collins, Jo Palmer and staff at the CSIRO Australian National Herbarium.

In Mongolia I saw a book Forage Plants in Mongolia. This only covers plants edible by domestic animals, but that includes some 300, among them many of the flowering plants we saw. According to the blurb, it

"contains plant species names in Latin and Mongolian, local Mongolian names, botanical and vegetation characteristics of each species, area of distribution within Mongolia, palatability and nutritional information, and their economic importance and potential for future use. Color photographs and/or line drawings for most of the forage species are also included".