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• 1 2022-06-27T15:27:58-04:00 The Disappearing Fruit Trees of Crimea 26 plain 2022-07-01T21:12:08-04:00

  Five entries in the master list of Crimean trees do not appear in the garden registers of 1793. What is this "master list" you ask? 

  
  Karl Gablits composed the list and published it as part of his Physical Description of Tavrida Province in 1785. The list of fruit-bearing trees (he composed a separate list of decorative trees) contains twenty-one entries. Sixteen appear in the garden registers of 1793 and therefore in the Glorious Glossary of (Fruit) Trees.

  So which trees disappeared?

  #1: The Apricot (абрикос; Prunus Armeniaca)
  Gablits describes the apricot as likewise ubiquitous, especially around Staryi Krym and Sudak.
  #2: The Pomegranate (гранат; Punica granatus)
  Gablits admits that this one is more particular, growing only in the coastal gardens of the south, though they grow wild in the forests as well. The pomegranate is known for its medicinal properties. Any good apothecary would be pleased to get his hands on some.
  #3: The Red Currant (красная смородина; Ribes rubrum)
  These are found only at Bahcesaray, though they grow there in large numbers.
  #4: The Cornelian Cherry (кизил; Cornus mascula)
  Gablits claims it is absolutely everywhere: in every garden, in every forest, on every mountain.
  #5: The Hackberry (каркас; Celtis orientalis)
  Gablits tell us it thrives from Balaklava to Yalta and is happiest on stony southern ground. The berries have medicinal properties.
  
• 1 2018-09-27T08:39:46-04:00 Karl Gablits 8 naturalist, botanist, official plain 2024-08-22T11:42:41-04:00 04/02/1752 - 10/09-1821 [Карл-Людвиг Иванович Габлиц]
  
  Born: 1752 in Prussia
  Died: 1821
  Occupation:

  Backstory

  Gablits settled in Russia as a child. At age 17 he joined the Gmelin expedition to southern Russia and Persia. He served as overseer of the state gardens at Astrakhan and in 1781 joined the Caspian expedition. He was appointed vice-governor of Tavrida (Crimea) in 1784 and later (1801) as director of state forests within the Ministry of Finance. He received a dacha in the Baydar Valley near Balaklava and a vineyard near Sudak.

  Why He Matters

  Prince Grigory Potemkin commissioned Gablits to produce the Physical Description of Tavrida Province. Catherine II was thrilled with the text and awarded Gablits with honors and a diamond-studded snuffbox.