KUZBASS. Kemerovo region

At the KuZbass flowerbed, guests are greeted by a parrot lizard — the Siberian Psittacosaurus, which became the mascot of the region’s stand at Russia EXPO. It lived only on the territory of Kemerovo region. The dinosaur surrounded by ferns and real Siberian flowers is a reflection of the ancient history of the region and of the Kuzbass desire to preserve its heritage and ecology.

The dinosaur is surrounded by ferns. These ancient plants appeared on the Earth about 400 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs, and their heyday occurred during the Carboniferous period, that is, during the formation of coal in the largest coal basin of our country — Kuzbass.

Ferns are widespread in the forests of Kuzbass. They can be found in the center of the region’s capital, Kemerovo, where relict taiga has been preserved on an area of more than 400 hectares. In Kemerovo this plot of untouched taiga is called pine forest. This is a specially protected area where in winter only hiking and skiing are allowed.

Compared to all other plants in the flowerbed, the globeflower stands out in a bright fiery color. It is often associated with fire for its orange flowers, and this is why it is called in Russian ogonyek, i.e., little fire. Kuzbass in late spring and in early summer amazes guests with huge meadows of such fire flowers. The basis of the flowerbed is made up of these two plants — fern (ostrich) and globeflower (ogonyek). They grow almost throughout the entire territory of Kuzbass.