Papaver rubro-aurantiacum

Papaver is a genus of 70-100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa, North America. It is the type genus of the poppy family, Papaveraceae. The native range of Papaver rubro-aurantiacum is Eastern Siberia, Northeast China, Mongolia. Synonym - Papaver nudicaule, var. rubro-aurantiacum. All parts of this plant are likely to be poisonous, containing (like all poppies) toxic alkaloids.

Hemerocallis minor

A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus Hemerocallis, a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae, native to Asia. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Daylilies are perennial plants, whose name alludes to its flowers, which typically last about a day. Hemerocallis minor, is also known as dwarf daylily, grassleaf lily and small daylily. It is native to Northeast Asia (Siberia, Mongolia, China, Korea). In China, the flowers are eaten as a traditional food.

Scabiosa comosa

Scabiosa is a genus in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers. The common name “scabious” comes the Latin word scabiosus meaning “mangy, rough or itchy” which refers to the herb’s traditional usage as a folk medicine to treat scabies, an illness that causes a severe itching sensation. Scabiosa comosa is native to Northern China, Korea, Siberia, Mongolia. This species (which is also known in Mongolia as Ber Tsetseg - “bride flower”) is a national flower of Mongolia. Scabiosa comosa blooms for three months in the summer. It comes in a variety of colors, ranging from pale blue to light purple.

Idol

In tribal societies of Siberia shamanism always has been a fundamental factor in religious life from the Bronze Age. Shamanism is a holistic vision of the world, reflecting the concept of the connection between man and nature, man and the Universe. According to shamanism, the universe is divided into three worlds: the upper world, earth and the underworld. These worlds are connected by a cosmic axis recognised as the centre of the universe and the place of penetration of the individual worlds. The upper world is inhabited by gods, underworld - by demons, and the centre - earth - by humans. There are also spirits that can live in all three worlds. Shamans can interact and communicate with spirits from each world. In shamanic objects much attention is paid to ritual shamanic sculpture associated with cosmogonic ideas, rituals, hunting cult and healing magic.

Lilium pumilum

Commonly known as coral lily (or low lily), Lilium pumilum is an Asian species of bulbous plants native to Mongolia, Siberia, Russian Far East, Korea, Northern China. Named pumilum (“dwarf” in Latin) for its small size, compared to other lilies. Lily bulbs are widely cultivated for food in Asia especially in China, Korea, Japan. Although there are many species of lily with edible bulbs, the ones most commonly grown for food in China are Lilium dauricum and Lilium pumilum. In addition to being used as a food item, lily bulbs have many medicinal uses.

Scorzonera radiata

Scorzonera is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. Species of the genus are found in Europe, Asia and Africa. Its center of diversity is in the Mediterranean. One possible origin of the genus name is the French “viper’s grass” (there was a widespread belief that the plant makes a good antidote against bites of venomous snakes). Scorzonera radiata is widely distributed in Mongolia, China, Russia (Siberia), Japan (Rebun Island). It’s a Mongolian traditional remedy for bacterial and viral infection-induced fever.

Campanula glomerata

Campanula glomerata, known by the common names clustered bellflower or Dane’s blood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Campanula, belonging to the family Campanulaceae. The etymology of this plant is quite intuitive: the genus Latin name (campanula), meaning “small bell”, refers to the bell-shape of the flower, while the specific name (glomerata) refers to the tight grouping of the flowers at the top of the stem. The species is native to the North Temperate Zone of Eurasia, from Britain to Japan.

Gentianopsis barbata

Gentianopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the gentian family known commonly as fringed gentians. These are similar to the gentians of genus Gentiana. Most have flowers which are blue to purple in color. They may be annual or perennial. They are native to Eurasia and temperate North America. Five species are native to China and occur at altitudes from 700 to 4900 m. Gentianopsis barbata used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Bauta

Among the many masks that dominated the Venetian scene the most common was the Bauta, a male equivalent of the Moretta but, unlike the latter, it could be used by both sexes. The Bauta was worn all year because it made it possible to hide one’s identity whenever desired. It consisted of a black cloak, the so-called tabarro, a tricorn and the Larva. Larva is a term derived from Latin which means ghost: it was in fact a mask that was particularly popular thanks to its simplicity and because it allowed people to move around the city in total anonymity.

Geranium transbaicalicum

Geranium is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world. The genus name is derived from the Greek word geranos (“crane”). The English name cranesbill derives from the appearance of the fruit capsule of some of the species. Geranium transbaicalicum - species from Lake Baikal, Russia, where it does intergrade with Geranium pratense.

Lilium pensylvanicum

Lilium pensylvanicum is an Asian plant species of the family Liliaceae. Sometimes called the Siberian lily (or Lilium dauricum), it is native to a cold climate and needs frost in the winter. It is found in the wild form in Siberia, Russian Far East, Mongolia, Northeast China, Korea, Hokkaido. The Latin name is misleading due to an error by the botanist John Bellenden Ker. The plant flowers in June and July with one to six upright, dish-shaped flowers. The seeds mature from August to September.

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Limenitis sydyi is a butterfly found in the East Palearctic (Siberia, Russian Far East, Northeast China, Korea) that belongs to the Nymphalidae family. This species prefers the sparse-growth forests dominated by larch that commonly occur at elevations of 400-600 m.

Linaria melampyroides

Linaria is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The members of this genus are known in English as toadflax, a name shared with several related genera. The “toad” in toadflax may relate to the plants having historically been used to treat bubonic plague, a false link having been drawn between the words “bubo” and “Bufo”. The scientific name Linaria means “resembling linum” (flax), which the foliage of some species superficially resembles. The genus is native to temperate regions of Europe and Asia.

Camaquen

Small anthropomorphic (male and female) and zoomorphic figurines were produced in Incan times for ritual offerings. They were offered to huacas (sacred places) or used during the Capacocha ceremony; several of them were found in mountaintop shrines. In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak’a is an object that represents something revered. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. The Quechua people traditionally believed every object has a physical presence and two camaquen (spirits), one to create it and another to animate it. They would invoke its spirits for the object to function.

Potentilla tanacetifolia

Potentilla is a genus containing over 300 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are usually called cinquefoils in English, but they have also been called five fingers and silverweeds. Typical cinquefoils look most similar to strawberries, but differ in usually having dry, inedible fruit (hence the name “barren strawberry” for some species). Potentilla tanacetifolia is native to Siberia, Korea, China.

Iris uniflora

Iris is a flowering plant genus of 310 accepted species with showy flowers. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. The genus takes its name from the Greek word iris (“rainbow”), which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. Some authors state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. Iris uniflora is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Limniris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Russia, Mongolia, China, Korea. It is used within Tibetan herbal medicine.

Sonchus arvensis

Sonchus arvensis, the field milk thistle, field sowthistle, perennial sow-thistle, corn sow thistle, dindle, gutweed, swine thistle, or tree sow thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. Sonchus arvensis is native to Eurasia, where it is widespread across most of the continent. It has also become naturalized in many other regions, and is considered an invasive noxious weed in some places, such as North America, Russia, New Zealand, Australia.

Rosa davurica

Rosa davurica (also known as Amur rose) is a deciduous wild rose growing to 1.5 m, which mainly grows in sunny places along forest edges, grassy hills, and glades at altitudes from 400 to 2500 m. Dahurian rose fruit, called Cimeiguo in Chinese, is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals, especially in vitamins A, C and E, flavanoids and other bio-active compounds. The native range of this species is Siberia, Russian Far East, Korea.

Plum rain

The East Asian rainy season, also called the plum rain, is caused by precipitation along a persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front for nearly two months during the late spring and early summer in East Asia between China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The wet season ends during the summer when the subtropical ridge becomes strong enough to push this front north of the region. These weather systems can produce heavy rainfall and flooding. In China, the term “plum rain” was used for the rain in the fourth and fifth lunar month. It specifically refers to the historical belief that, when the plums turn yellow and fall at the south of the Yangtze in the fourth and fifth months, the moisture that evaporates from the plant turns into rain.

Stellera chamaejasme

Stellera is a genus of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, with a single species Stellera chamaejasme found in mountainous regions of Asia. Stellera chamaejasme is a herbaceous perennial plant with heads of white, pink or yellow flowers. The genus Stellera was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The generic name Stellera commemorates Georg Wilhelm Steller, while the specific epithet chamaejasme is a rendering into botanical Latin orthography of the Greek “down on the ground” and “jasmine”. The name in its entirety thus means “Steller’s plant that resembles a kind of jasmine (that creeps) on the ground”. Stellera chamaejasme is native to Northern China, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India (Uttar Pradesh), Russia (Siberia), Mongolia. It is found on sunny dry slopes and sandy places between 2600 and 4200 m. The plant is virulently poisonous.

Gagea pauciflora

Gagea is a large genus of spring flowers in the lily family. It is found primarily in Eurasia. The genus is named after the English botanist Sir Thomas Gage (1781-1820). They were originally described as species of Ornithogalum, which, together with the usual yellow colour of the flowers, explains the English name yellow star-of-Bethlehem for the common European species, Gagea lutea. Gagea pauciflora is an Asian species. It is native to Mongolia, Russia, China. Gagea pauciflora is a bulb-forming perennial up to 30 cm tall. Flowers yellowish-green. The specific epithet pauciflora, refers to the Latin term for “few flowered”.

Lilium pumilum

Lilium pumilum (coral lily, low lily, lipstick lily) is an Asian species of bulbous plants native to grassy mountainous areas of Mongolia, Siberia, Russian Far East, Korea, Northern China. Blooms in early to mid summer. The flowers are abundant, with up to 20 flowers per stem. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by bees. In China, both the flower and bulbs are used as food, as are the other related species.

Solanum kitagawae

Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants. The generic name was first used by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) for a plant also known as strychnos, most likely Solanum nigrum. Its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word sol, meaning “sun”, referring to its status as a plant of the sun. Solanum kitagawae is a species native to Russia, China, Japan, Mongolia. Also known as Solanum borealisinense and Solanum depilatum. All parts of the plant are poisonous, containing solanine, which can cause convulsions and death. Solanine has pesticidal properties, and it is one of the plant’s natural defenses.

Vicia unijuga

Vicia is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Vicia means “binder” in Latin; this was the name used by Pliny for vetch. Vicia unijuga, commonly called two-leaf vetch, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family. It is native to Eastern Asia, where it is widespread, its range extending through China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Russia. It is very common in both China and Japan, and may be the most common species of Vicia in China. It is found in a variety of forested and open habitats. It is a perennial that produces purple flowers in the summer and fall.

Polygonatum odoratum

Polygonatum odoratum (angular Solomon’s seal or scented Solomon’s seal) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Siberia, Russian Far East, China, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, Japan. Polygonatum comes from the Ancient Greek for “many knees”, referring to the multiple jointed rhizome. The Latin specific epithet odoratum means “scented”. One explanation for the derivation of the common name Solomon’s seal is that the roots bear depressions which resemble royal seals. Another is that the cut roots resemble Hebrew characters. Polygonatum odoratum is used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine. In Korea, the root of the plant is used to make tea.

Orostachys spinosa

Orostachys is a genus of the succulent family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family) that contains about 15 species. It is a biennial herb growing in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia. Eight species occur in China. Orostachys spinosa (Chinese Dunce Cap, Dunce Cap, Spiny Pennywort) is a small, slow-growing succulent that forms rosettes of thick fleshy grey-green leaves with soft white spiny tips. This species is native to the arid areas in Mongolia, Russia, China. The plant is remarkably hardy, and able to photosynthesize under a thin layer of snow. Orostachys spinosa show amazing symmetry of the rosette, the leaf pattern follows a Fibonacci sequence. Orostachys spinosa is used in Mongolian herbal medicine, and in decorative rock gardens.

Lactuca sibirica

Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus includes at least 50 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia. Lactuca is derived from Latin and means “having milky sap”. Lactuca sibirica, the Siberian lettuce, occupies the northernmost distribution range of all Eurasian Lactuca species. It is a boreal element extending from Scandinavia in the west to Kamchatka, Korea and Japan in the east. It is the host of the systemic rust fungi Puccinia minussensis, which propagates with it along its ramets, resulting in complex host-parasite interactions.