XVI International Botanical Congess

The largest family in Siberia, the Compositae, has 581 species with one endemic genus Tridactylina and 110 endemic species of mostly steppe, desert-steppe, montane or arctic areas. The genera Artemisia, Saussurea, Taraxacum reach the maximum diversification in the montane regions adjacent to Central Asia. Hieracium, Pilosella, Centaurea are common in the plains close to Europe. Senecio and recently revived Tephroseris have some difference in their distribution patterns. All Senecio species prefer plains and low mountains. Most of the Tephroseris species grow in the mountains of Eastern Siberia. An Eurasian genus Artemisia has 86 species of montane dry steppe habitats and stony tundras of the Arctic. An Asian genus Saussurea falls into a few ecologically and genetically defined groups, which occupy all kinds of habitats in Southern Siberia.