CONIFEROUS SPECIES

First of all, mention should be made of the coniferous races, producing the most valuable and productive stands of trees. These are ordinary pine, (Pinus sylvestris), siberian larch (Larix Sibirica), siberean spruce (Picea Obovata), siberian fir (abies) (Abies Sibirica) — the representatives of the family of pine-trees (Pinaceae). The first 2 species are light-coniferous, and the rest — dark-coniferous breeds.

The ordinary pine is the main wood-forming race on the territory of Bashkortostan both by the lands occupied and its importance in the national economy. The total area of the pine-woods exceeds 756,3 thousand hectares (See Illustration). The basic bulk of the pine-forests is concentrated in the 4 regions: in the Southern Urals mountains, in the Belebei Height, in the north-east (the Ufa plateau and the area between the Ai and the Yuryuzan rivers) and also in the north-west (the Lower Belaya) of the republic.

The siberean larch occupies all in all 41,4 thousand hectares (0,8%) of the general area of forests of the republic. Only in the last century the larch woods made a considerable part of the territory of modern Bashkortostan, but rapacious cuttings resulted in their rapid decrease. At present the larch plantations of the republic are guarded by law, and topping of them is strictly prohibited.

The siberian spruce belongs to the most valuable forest-forming species. This is a graceful tree up to 30 metres high and 1,5 metres in its diameter. It occupies 5,7% of the total area of woods. It is distinguished from related to it the european spruce by lesser size of corns (58 centimetres long), whole-edged scales and larger cold-resistancy. The natural hybrids of these varieties occur on the Ufa plateau, and are characterized by longer cones, their seed scales’ extendancy and roundedness.