taiga
From Glossary of Meteorology
The open northern part of the boreal forest.
It consists of open woodland of coniferous trees growing in a rich floor of lichen (mainly reindeer moss or caribou moss), and is generally cold and swampy. The taiga lies immediately south of the tundra. In spring, it is often flooded by water from northward flowing rivers, the lower reaches of which are still frozen.
