EAST NEPAL AND THE SIKKIM HIMALAYA MODNTALNS. 105 



the delicately nerved corolla, and from the varied tints of the 

 blossoms, which on first opening are of a rich blush-colour, in- 

 sensibly passing- into pure white, and finally becoming faintly 

 tinged with sulphur. 



27. R. setosum. — Distribution and range: Kemaon, 

 Nepal, and Sikkim — \Z,000 to 16,000 feet— most 

 abundant in the drier valleys of the interior. 



Stems from 8 to 12 inches high, much branched, branches 

 covered with a papery bark. Leaves small, copious towards the 

 ends of the branches, 4- to 2^ an inch long, coriaceous, dark green 

 above, pale and glaucous beneath, hairy on the recurved margin. 

 Flower-stalks ^ to 1 inch long, 3 to o from the ends of the nume- 

 rous branches, erect. Corolla bright red rose-colour, li inch 

 across, o-partite, the tube very sliort ; the lobes spreading, ob- 

 long, waved at the margin. — A small and elegant shrub, resem- 

 bling Rhodora, especially in the flowers, except that these are 

 more abundant and brighter coloured ; and the foliage is box- 

 like and evergreen. It is the Tsallu of the Sikkim Bhoteas and 

 Tibetans, who attribute the oppression and headaches attending 

 the crossing of the loftiest passes of Eastern Himalaya to the 

 strongly resinous odour of this and of R. anthopogon, Wall. 

 {Palu of the natives). The species certainly abounds near the 

 summits of all the passes, and after hot sunshine fills the atmos- 

 phere with its powerful aroma, far too heavy to be agreeable, 

 and greatly aggravating the discomforts of toiling in the rarefied 

 medium of these elevations. In its late flowering (June and 

 July) and early fruiting (October) it is well adapted to the brief 

 and distinctly circumscribed summer of these regions ; whilst 

 its powerful odour and copious resinous secretions equally indi- 

 cate a drier climate than is enjoyed by most of its congeners. 

 The hand, on being passed over the foliage and branches, becomes 

 covered with the clammy exudation, of which it long retains the 

 scent. A useful volatile oil, of no less marked a character than 

 that of the American Gaidtheria (now in great demand by the 

 perfumers), might probably be obtained from the foliage by dis- 

 tillation. 



28. R. nivale. — Distribution and range : Sikkim Hima- 

 laya — in the dry valleys of the interior — at elevations 

 of 16,000 to 18,000 feet. 



The hard woody branches of this curious little species, as thick 

 as a goosequill, straggle along the ground for a foot or two, pre- 

 senting brown tufts of vegetation where few otlier plants can 

 exist. The branches are densely interwoven, and wliolly de- 

 presseil, being raised barely 2 inches above the soil. The surface 



