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 Magnolia 

 Magnolia is one of the most magnificent of the fragrant trees. Its trunk is typically straight and erects with spreading branches that form a dense, broadly pyramidal crown. It has large, thick, leathery dark green leaves which are up to 10 inches long. In the spring, they have a golden to rust color on their undersides. The large evergreen trees may grow to 90 ft tall, and the fragrant white blossoms that have smooth, almost velvet-looking petals, are 8-12 inches across. The snow white flowers are huge, and cup-shaped when young. The fruits are the reddish-brown cone like structures, 2-4 in long, with bright red kidney shaped seeds that hang from little threads when fully mature in autumn. In the US, the magnolia is used as a street tree, a free standing specimen, a framing tree, or shade tree. In most parts of India, magnolias are grown only in select well-maintained gardens. In Manipur, magnolias are commonly grown - the Manipuri name oot -Ahm -Bal means "tree lotus" - flowers are used as offering in Puja.

 Dwarf Magnolia is a wonderful plant which captures the beauty of magnolias (normally big trees) in a flower pot. The flowers are small and very fragrant. They usually last only a day and open in the evening, the tepals falling by morning. This species is a good houseplant, the most suitable magnolia for indoors, thanks to its small size and slow growth rate. Its long flowering period provides indoor fragrance and color about nine months of a year. Most of the magnolias lack nectarines, but the Magnolia coco is a nice exception. It secretes a nectar-like substance at the base of the tepals and between the stigmas…. Indoors it can be grown as a small house plant in a pot where it gets only 2-3 ft tall and blooms in young age. The fragrance is outstanding especially in early morning and reminds one of champak. This probably inspired its other names, Michelia cocoa and Michelia pumila. This is a true Magnolia - the blooms are at the ends of the branches, rather than from the leaf axils as they are in the Michelia group.

 Sea Mango is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up 12 m tall. The shiny dark-green leaves are alternate, ovoid in shape. The flowers are fragrant, possessing a white tubular 5 lobed corolla about 3 to 5 cm in diameter, with a pink to the red throat. They have 5 stamens and the ovary is positioned above the other flower parts. The fruits are egg-shaped, 5-10 cm long, and turn bright red at maturity. Sea Mango is native to Madagascar, South-East Asia, and many Pacific islands.

 The Kherlen River is a river of 1,254 km length in Mongolia and China. The river has its origin in the south slopes of the Khentii Mountains, near this Burkhan Khaldun Mountain, about 180 km northeast of Ulaanbaatar. This area is the watershed between the Arctic (Tuul River) and Pacific (Kherlen, Onon) basins and named Three river basins. From there the Kherlen flows in a mostly eastern direction through the Khentii aimag. On its further way, it crosses the eastern Mongolian steppe past Ulaan Ereg and Choibalsan, entering China at 48°3′N 115°36′E, emptying into Hulun Nuur after another 164 km.

 Forest of the country consists of 140 species tree, shrub and larch, pine, cedar, spruce, fir are the conifers, birch, aspen, poplar, elm, willow, shrub are deciduous. Dominant main tree is a larch

 There have been 128 plant species registered in the second edition of Mongolian red book. This group includes 75 medicinal species, 11 for food, 16 species used in industry, 55 decorative species and 15 species used in the soil fixing process and in controlling pests. More than 100 species of plants are currently used for medicinal purposes and more than 200 species are used for pharmaceutical purposes. Additionally, 200 species are used for tea, 50 species for food and over 100 species are important for livestock feed.

 These rare species of plants like Adonis Mongolica listed in the Mongolian Red Book. The habitats of rare species of plants in the Russian and Mongolian parts of the Baikal basin are visually presented on the map “Rare species of vascular plants” using the cartographic interpretation technique. In order to create this map for the Russian part of the basin, the authors used the lists and characteristics of rare species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (Plants and Fungi). In this part of the basin, the map shows the habitats of 31 vascular plants (see the list) with different categories of the extinction risk according to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Category 0 (probably extinct, but the possibility of their preservation cannot be excluded) includes Isoetes lacustris. Category 1 (endangered) includes four species: Astragalus Ol Chinensis, Vicia tsydenii, Festuca Barg-Sinensis, and Viola incisa. Category 2 (decreasing in number) also includes four species: Caulinia flexilis, Hedysarum zundukii, Epipogium aphyllum, and Deschampsia turczaninowii. Category 3 (rare) includes 25 species represented by small populations that are currently not endangered and vulnerable. Often, these species are distributed within a limited area or have narrow ecological amplitude.

 For the map of the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin, we used information on the species composition and location of rare species of vascular plants from the electronic version of Mongolian Red Book. Habitats of 51 species are identified including a rare endemic species Saxifraga hirculus, six very rare relics: Adonis Mongolica, Vicia tsydenii, Kobresia robusta, Nymphaea tetragona, Lancea tibetica, and Tulipa uniflora, as well as rare relics: Zigadenus sibiricus and Caryopteris Mongolica are marked. Altogether, there are 31 very rare and 11 rare species.

 The map “Rare species of vascular plants under regional protection” shows the Baikal basin’s habitats of rare species under regional protection in Irkutsk oblast (Red Book of Irkutsk oblast), Buryatia (Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia), and Zabaikalsky Krai (Red Book of Chita oblast). Altogether, there are 868 habitats of 201 species of vascular plants listed in the regional Red Books and the Red Book of the Russian Federation. Species in different regions have the different status depending on the state of the species population. Among the regional species, Lagopsis Erio Stachys and Isoetes lacustris have Category 0 (probably extinct), while 28 species are endangered (Category 1).

 The map “Plant communities requiring protection” uses conventional symbols and is created based on the information from the Green Book of Siberia, Atlas of Irkutsk Oblast, and Electronic Atlas of the Slyudyansky District. According to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, forests under the protection of Group 1 and forests in specially protected territories must be conserved in the Baikal basin because of their economic and social values. These forests serve to protect water resources, preserve the environment, and perform sanitary, hygienic, therapeutic, and other functions. The following communities also require protection due to their scientific importance as standards of indigenous vegetation: the Polygonum bistorta + Carex aterrima and Stemmacantha carthamoides Meadows; Rhododendron aureum alpine tundras of the subalpine zone; Filifolium sibiricum, Festuca litvinovii, and Stipa klemenzii - S. baicalensis - Eremogone capillaries steppes; Ulmus macrocarpa + Spiraea pubescens shrub steppe communities; Betula davurica - Artemisia desertorum + Calamagrostis brachytricha + Carex reventa forest communities; and Carex lasiocarpa + C. pseudocuraica + Iris laevigata marsh communities. Among the protected communities are very rare (Spodiopogon sibiricus; Armeniaca sibirica + Spiraea pubescens), relict (Arundinella anomala + Lespedeza hedysaroides), and unique (Stipa baicalensis + Paeonia lactiflora) communities, as well as communities located on the margins of their habitats (Pinus pumila; Caragana jubata) and reducing their habitat due to a high resource-related importance (Filifolium sibiricum + Phlojodicarpus sibiricus). The maps showing the distribution of rare vascular plant species and plant communities requiring protection can be used in the development of environmental policy aimed at optimizing nature resources management in the Baikal region to protect its biodiversity.

 19 insect species (which includes 11 species of butterflies and moths, 4 species of wasps, 2 species of beetles, 1 species of dragonfly and 1 species of fly) are conserved by legal protection. The Mongolian water system is based on the following watersheds: Khalkh gol, Kherlen gol, Onon, Shishhed, Bulgan gol, Selenge, Tes, Great lake depression and the Southern lakes valley, and Mongolia itself geographically belongs to the three main water catchments in the region, being the Pacific Drainage Basin, Arctic Ocean Drainage Basin and the Central Asian Inland Basin (Figure 1). There are 76 species of fish belonging to 46 genera and 14 families reported in these watersheds. In the Arctic Ocean Drainage Basin, there are 29 species, while in the Pacific Drainage – 43 species, and 10 in the Central Asian Inland Basin.

 There are 6 species of amphibians in Mongolia belonging to 4 families of 2 orders, and 21 species of reptiles in Mongolia belongs to 13 genera, 6 families of 2 suborders. Mongolia’s diversity is low, compared to that of Middle Asia, Northeast Asia, and Central Asian herpetological species, primarily due to the harsh continental climate of Mongolia.

 Currently, about 472 bird species have been recorded in Mongolia, belonging to 61 families and 19 orders. There are 81 species of resident birds and 391 species of migratory birds. In addition, 254 species of migratory birds breed in Mongolia, 10 species are winter visitors from Siberia, 8 species are summer visitors and 64 species are vagrants.

 Four major global migratory routes have been recognized in Mongolia: the East Asia-Australasia Flyway; the Central Asia flyway; the West Pacific flyway; and the Africa-Eurasia flyway. Of these, the former two account for the majority of bird migration.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in"> Mongolia has 138 species of mammals, which belongs to 73 genus and 23 families, 8 orders; which includes 13 species of insectivores; 12 species of chiropters; 6 species of lagomorphs; 69 species of rodents; 24 species of carnivores; 2 species of perissodactyls; 1 species of tylopoda; and 11 species of artiodactyls.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in"> In Sanskrit "Mongolia Flower" is known as "Champaka or Sampangi". This has a unique, heavy yet fascinating aroma that has made the oil and the products made from it popular worldwide. There are several ingredients that are used in the making of this scented oil, and the base is made of Champaka flowers. The oil is made using sandalwood, which is beneficial for human skin. It works as an insect repellent and antiseptic agent on the skin. It's heavy, lingering aroma overpowers bad odors and other unwanted smells for a long time. Its fragrance helps relax your nerves that focus on a specific thought or work. The Mongols are bound together by a common heritage and ethnic identity. Their indigenous dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in"> Mongolia, the ‘Land of Blue Sky’, home of the greatest empire the world has ever known and Asia’s last undiscovered wilderness. Awesome expanses of rolling steppe, home to Mongolia’s famous horses and herdsmen, meet high glacial mountains, impenetrable forests and deep, crystal lakes. To the south the great Gobi Desert stretches to the horizon; empty save for deep canyons and sweeping dunes. Across much of this vast land little has changed since the days of Genghis Khan.