During the Ice Age, Hokkaido was connected to Sakhalin (Eurasian Continent) to the north, to the Kurile Islands to the east and to Honshu to the south. The Daisetsuzan Mountain Range, which is located at nearly the center, is thought to have nurtured many plants that originated from the different regions. In addition, the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range has a diverse alpine environment with differing conditions, such as windswept areas, snowfields and marshlands, depending on the topography and orientation of the slopes, and alpine flora suited to each of these conditions grow there. Among them, 7 families and 11 species, such as hosobauruppusou (Lagotis yesoensis), are thought to be plants endemic to the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range.