The word "taiga" comes to us from Russian, which may or may not have gotten it from Mongolian. It's a biome, also known as boreal forest, occurring in wintry environments, but more conducive to plant growth than the tundra is. This is where you see a lot of conifers, not as many trees that shed their leaves in the autumn. Furry predators like bears, wolves, and wildcats do well here.
Taiga covers a big part of both North America and Eurasia. There isn't really any to speak of in the Southern Hemisphere, because there's basically no land at the right latitudes for it. That could change with continental drift, but slow drift is slow.
As to why I was thinking about snow-covered taiga tonight, the heat and humidity probably have something to do with it.
2 comments:
When you mentioned Mongolian along with Taiga I immediately thought of Genghis Khan. There are numerous stories and legends about him but one thing for certain was that he led a mighty force of mounted riders across the taiga and so connected a large part of the world.
His grandson, the emperor Kublai Khan welcomed Marco Polo and his father and uncle to China where they travelled at length. It was early school years when we learned those stories and drew maps and pictures. Oh boy, camels and horses and elephants too. The idea of Xanadu fired my romantic imagination:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
Oops, sorry, almost got carried away there..
That was a neat article about the enormous part of the northern hemisphere that's considered taiga. There are species of plants and animals rarely if ever seen anywhere else. It's also generally cool (well, cold) throughout most of the year. I can see why you thought of it on a muggy July evening. I hope it's cooler there now.
Genghis Khan's Mongolian Empire conquered most of Eurasia, which is of course huge. The only parts he didn't take were the tundra at the north--which he didn't particularly want--the Indian subcontinent--which was of course on the wrong side of the Himalayas--and Western Europe, which seemed in his grasp when he died. So wow, he was good with a lot of environments.
Coleridge's "Kublai Khan" is a great poem. It's also a great retort to the whole "write what you know" dogma. Coleridge's China comes from his head, and is no less gripping for that. But yes, Kublai Khan did host Marco Polo. It would have had to be a real eye-opener for Polo.
In addition to its distinctive plant life--including, of course, the conifers--the taiga has produced some unique animals. Interesting that taigas are also home to species of frogs and salamanders, even though they can't control their body temperature.
It's pleasant now with window open and ceiling fan going. Of course there have been fluctuations.
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