Bairak Forests

forests which grow in small areas on the tops and slopes of ravines (bairaks) in the steppe zone of the European USSR. The basic forest-forming variety is the oak (pedunculate and in some places pubescent). Almost always mixed in with the oak are ash, common maple, pear, apple, wych elm, and more rarely elm; in the western region mazzard is encountered, and in the region of Aleksandriia (Kirovograd Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR), there is hornbeam. In the undergrowth it is common to find Tatar maple, hawthorn, wayfaring tree, filbert, spindle tree, and in places smoke tree. Along the edge of the forest there is blackthorn, dog rose, ground cherry, and dwarf almond.