12 SUEG.-MAJ. J. E. T. AITCHISON ON THE FLOEA OP 



sionally at 7000 feet, but more commonly from 8000 to 9000 

 feet, occurs Rhododendron afghanicum, a new species, remarkable 

 from the fact of its being a native of a country hitherto con- 

 sidered as unlikely to yield Ehododendrons, far less any new 

 species. It is poisonous to goats, and is reluctantly handled by the 

 natives. 



Ulmus campestris, as a good-sized tree, occurs up to 9000 feet ; 

 its wood is valued for making the rough wooden dishes used by 

 the people. Amongst the forest, from 10,000 feet to a little above 

 this limit, Betula Bhojpattra, with Pyrus Aucuparia and P. lanata, 

 are not uncommon. The bark of the Betula is not employed for 

 any economic purpose. 



8. Vegetation of Safed Koh at elevations of 8000-11, 000 feet. 



The following shrubs and herbs occur at about 10,000 feet, 

 chiefly in the bed of the valley :-A new species of Bertya, a 

 common bush (a rare Japan and Chinese genus), called P. 

 Aitchisonii by C. B. Clarke ; Lonicera sericea and Myrtillus ■ and 

 in the clefts of the limestone rocks, Wulfenia Amherstiana 

 and a Veronica near Teucrium, both remarkable for their 

 respective forms of bright inflorescence ; several Silenes, Pri- 

 mula rosea, Geranium Wallichii and nepalense, Impatiens am- 

 phorata, and some species of Pedicularis. At and a little 

 above this height, also in the clefts of the rocks, more particu- 

 larly at a place known as the Marble gorge, Isopyrum grandi- 

 florum and Polypodium clathratum of Clarke are found. Amongst 

 turf, at 11,000 feet, Caleianthemum Jcashmirianum, Aconitum 

 Napellus var. rotundifolium, with Botrychium Lunaria, occur in 

 great abundance, and about the same place, but on moss-covered 

 stones, Cryptogramma crispa. 



The limit of forest is usually reached at 11,000 feet; in 

 favoured localities, however, single trees not unfrequently exist 

 up to 12,000 feet. Pinus excelsa and Abies Webbiana are 

 the two trees which alone occur as dwarf specimens at the 

 highest altitude. Here a bush-jungle begins gradually to 

 replace the forest trees, chiefly composed of Salix elegans, 

 S. grisea, with another new Rhododendron, a large spreading 

 shrub resembling R. campanulatum in its mode of growth, 

 and remarkable for the heavy aromatic odour emitted from 

 its leaves. The natives wear occasionally a bunch of these 

 leaves stuck in their turban in lieu of flowers, and when dried 



