20 subg.-:maj. j. e. t. aitchison on the flora of 



a spinous form oiCicer soongaricum, and a woody miniature tree-like 

 Polygonum, P. biaristatum, n. sp. This peculiar lumpy and hum- 

 mocky form of vegetation only exists up to 12,000 feet, above 

 which the hills are perfectly bare, and any thing that does grow 

 has to be diligently sought for in the crevices of rocks, or in 

 their shelter. 



In broken loose debris at 12,500 feet, I found for the first time 

 JLamium rhomboideurn, with its lovely pink flowers and its hand- 

 some soft woolly leaves. At the summit of the peak (13,000 feet) 

 there are found amongst the rocks, Cystopteris fragilis (the only 

 fern collected, with the exception of Asplenium Rut a-mur aria, since 

 leaving Alikhel), with Oxyria reniformis, Valeriana dioica, Lonicera 

 glauca (so close and creeping, that it was very difficult to obtain 

 fragmentary specimens) ; a very handsome glaucous-leaved Ligus- 

 ticum, probably a new species ; and in the clefts of the rock Iso- 

 pyrum thalictroides in great perfection and fine flower. On debris 

 a species of Draba, no. 825, with Alyssum persicum. 



12. Vegetation of the Spurs around Sikardm. 

 I made several excursions along the southern and western slopes 

 of Sikarain, on one occasion ascending as high as 13,000 feet. 

 Subsequently I ascended the main hill up to 15,000 feet, and a 

 ridge to the north which overlooks a small lake to a height of 

 14,700 feet. Except on the northern slopes and in sheltered 

 valleys, all the snow had disappeared. On the top of Sikaram 

 itself there was no snow in August, but I was informed that a 

 large bed existed on its northern slope. In ascending along the 

 bed of the Kurezghar stream at 9000 feet, I collected Carex vul- 

 garis, Allium robustum, Astragalus tephrosioides, an extremely 

 handsome tall-growing plant, which throws out shoots of from 3 

 to 4 feet in length from a large woody root-stock. From Sergal 

 the forest was very fine, consisting nearly altogether of deodar 

 and Juniperus excelsa, with occasional trees of Pinus excelsa and 

 Abies TVebbiana. On the ridge over the left bank of the Kurez- 

 ghar stream one or two trees of Pinus Gerardiana occur ; but this 

 is its eastern limit. On the Pewar ridge it does not get further 

 east than two miles to the south of Zabardastkalla. In the 

 deodar forest there is no undergrowth. On the dry limestone 

 soil under the trees Pedicularis, no. 487, is very common ; and as 

 the forest begins to thin off, owing to altitude, Onobrychis cornuta 

 is common in dense circular bushes, which, with Juniperus com- 



