This territory fascinated scientists for the first time in the mid-19th century. Located outside of Moscow, the Doly territory is a place where grasses and herbs native to areas 400 metres south — on the Streletskaya Steppe in Kursk Oblast — grow. How these plants ended up in the Moscow area is still a complete mystery. In scientific literature Dony’s botanical phenomenon has been dubbed “the surviving Oka flora.” The Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve is a place where nature — not man — makes the rules. Here scientists conduct their studies and observe nature without disturbing the natural life of the area’s protected forests and meadows, doing their best to in no way influence nature’s natural path.