- 6 - forms; there are about 1000 ornamental herbaceous plants grown also. One can see the vegetation that is native to the area of the Garden in the section on the damp subtropics of the Transcaucasus, and on the forest plots along the west and north-west slopes (5-220 m above sea-level). This vegetation belongs to the mixed lower Colchic forest; it is composed of broad-leaved deciduous (nemoral) species, and evergreen species of subtropical relationships. The deciduous species that from the forest canopy are Fagus orientalis, Castanea sativa, Carpinus caucasica, Alnus barbata, Ulmus glabra (in the park section of the Garden), U.elliptica, Tilia caucasica, and Quercus hartwissiana; rarer Cerasus silvestris, Carpinus caucasica, and Alnus barbata regenerate more actively than other species. Castanea sativa regenerates well, too, but the regeneration of Fagus orientalis occurs poorly mainly because of the mass loss of the seedlings each year. The rarer deciduous arboreal species that have been preserved under the forest canopy and in the park section of the Garden are Sambucus nigra and the arborescent Corylus (possibly, C.pontica). The common Corylus avellana is exuberant along the seaside slopes; Salix caprea in the shrub form can be also seen. From time to time one may find Ficus carica, Diospyros lotus and Morus nigra, species that impart the appearance of the subtropics to the forest. In the understorey, there are deciduous shrubs like Frangula alnus and Vaccinium arctostaphylos; especially abundant are Euonymus europaeus, Swida australis, Viburnum opulus, Staphylea pinnata, and Ligustrum vulgare. The evergreen understorey in the area of the Garden is more exuberant compared to the deciduous one, and consists of a dense canopy of tree like Rhododendron ponticum and Laurocerasus officinalis. Here one can also see in the evergreen understorey an admixture of Ilex imeretica differing from more common I.colchica by its narrow serratulate leaves. The Garden is characterized by a complete absence of the wild-growing Buxus colchica which is exuberant in the neighbouring gorges; Daphne pontica is rare here. The Colchic forest differs from true subtropical forest, in spite of its lush ever-