236 MR. W. B. HEMSLEY ON THE 
Altitude. Collectors. 
; 16,100 ft. Deasy & Pike. 
Juncus Thomsont ..seeeeee ee 116.200 Thorold. 
Carex ustulat. ccc rccccernees 16,500 Littledale. 
. ) 16,480 Wellby & Malcolm. 
Moorcroftti ......e eevee r 17,600 Thorold. 
yy SADULOSA. eee ee ees 16,160 Hedin. 
» stenophylla ..crcveveves 16,200 Thorold. 
Kobresia scheenotdes ..c.c cee 16,300 Deasy & Pike. 
Stipa PUTPUTEM voce vereenaes 16,500 Thorold. 
Poa attenuata voccccccccccenes 18,000 ” 
Atropis distans .. csv e ees 17,000 ” 
Festuca valestacd... 1.0 .eeeeenes 16100 De asy & Pike. 
Littledalea tibeticd vc... cee 16,500 Littledale. 
Agropyrum Thoroldianum ...... 16,500 Thorold. 
” striatum vivecsenes ” Littledale. 
Elymus lanuginosus......e eens 16,520 Wellby & Malcolm. 
The above list is doubtless imperfect and incomplete. For 
instance, it is doubtful whether so many of Littledale’s plants 
were collected above 16,000 ft., because only a general indication 
of altitude of “about 16,500 ft.” was given, and some of the 
plants may have been collected a thousand feet or more lower. 
Still, as may be seen, many of the plants of the Littledale 
collection were found at greater clevations by other travellers. 
It is also probable that Thorold’s altitudes are all susceptible to 
some reduction. The general result is :— 
Species from 16,000 and below 17,000 ft..... 72 
” 17,000 ,, 4, ~=«18,000 «... 2 
” 18,000 or) above a 6 
130 
. According to these figures, nearly half of the Tibetan species 
in our Enumeration have been collected at 16,000 ft. and upwards. 
Whether these figures are very exact or not, they go to prove 
that there is no altitudinal limit to flowering plants except 
perpetual snow. In the Alps of Europe, as proved by the late 
J ohn Ball and others, plants exist in snow-free nooks and corners 
far above the ordinary snow-line. The species recorded from 
18,000 ft. and upwards are:—Thermopsis inflata, 1,540 ft. ; 
Astragalus confertus, 18,000 ft.: Aster Boweri, 18,000. ft.; 
Saussurea tridactyla, 19,000 ft.; Microula tibetica, 18,000 ft. 
and Poa attenuata, 18,000 ft. 
