In the vegetation of the meadow-steppe, grasses and herbs take the first place. Of the grasses the stippa species are the most characteristic (tirsa, kovil); of the herbs, the lily-like growths. The growth of grass in the northern part of the steppe region is very luxuriant and thick, and attains great heights, altho the times in which a rider and his horse might disappear in the grass belong to the past. High weeds and thistles (buriani, bodiaki) form thickets of great luxuriance. In the spring, when the fresh young grass begins to sprout up and the blossoming herbs convert the steppe into a carpet of flowers, when everything is resplendent with the fulness of life and beauty, then the Ukrainian steppe presents a wonderful picture. But this picture is not lasting. The heat and the drought transform the fresh, green, primitive color into yellow and brown. Grasses and herbs wither and die away, and only the roots and seeds preserve the living power of the plant, surviving the autumnal drought and the severe cold of winter, once more to wrap the steppe in its bridal gown in the spring. In the southern part of the steppe region the plant covering is not so luxurious as in the north, and the grasses and herbs grow in isolated little bushes, between which the bare ground of the steppe remains visible. The saline earth appears much oftener, with its gray-green vegetation of salt plants, and we often find sand areas, which begin to suggest the desert steppes of the Caspian steppe country. A characteristic plant formation in the entire steppe region is comprised by the bushes (bairaki, chahari), which generally consist of heavily tangled thickets of wild cherry (prunus chamaecerasus, vishennik), spiral (tavolha), snowball (calina), almond shrub (amygdalus nana, bobovnik), [106]etc. They generally grow in the steppe balkas, or near them, and cover extended areas. The Ukrainian steppe, despite contrary current opinion, does not lack tree growth. In the region of the real steppe, to be sure, we meet only forest terraces, which extend along the river courses, but in the transition zone we still find woods and groves, which not only appear in river valleys, but also cover the plateaus between these. The oak, the white beech, the maple, the poplar, the wild apple and pear trees, are the chief representatives of the tree species of the woods of this section. Even the pine ventures as far as the district of Kharkiv. Besides the forest terraces, the rivers of the steppe region are accompanied by the formation of the so-called plavni. They are thickets of sedge and reeds, with luxuriant willow and alder growth; in drier places, which are flooded only during high-water time, real oak forests are added. With pleasure the eye of the traveler, wearied by the uniformity of the steppe, rests upon them.