Survival at high altitude: “..the deserts shall rejoice.”

When we were not looking for snow leopards, we explored the lower altitudes of the Altai. As we drove down from our camp towards the valleys, the dry inhospitable stony slopes seemed barren of life, but they actually host a few low growing plants, most of which I’d never seen before. iNaturalist helped me ID them on my return, and all these ID’s were confirmed on iNaturalist by expert Mongolian botanists.

The landscape was Biblical, and many of the plants that survive here are succulents. Annual rainfall is about 6″ (15cm), and winter lows can plummet to -20F, though summers can rise above 80F. In September, not surprisingly, many plants had no remaining vestiges of flowers (but keep reading!):

In the spring, the wildflowers must be spectacular, like the deserts in California after spring rains. But even in mid-September a few hardy plants were in flower.

My final plant, and my personal favorite, came in a range of hues from dark crimson to yellow:

Life has a way of triumphing over adversity, or as that great poetic work the King James Bible, Isaiah 35: 1-2 says: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”

Another time, I’ll show you some of the birds of these high altitudes.

PS This species of Anabasis is used as forage, but a different species is toxic, and was used as an insecticide in the former Soviet Union.