580 STEWART: FLORA OF LADAK, WESTERN TIBET 
confined to narrow belts below the melting snows and along the 
upper courses of the streams and does not spread out into the 
valleys. The main part of the country is desert with a flora that 
connects up with Turkestan more than it does with India. The 
flora of the oasis (FIG. 1) iscosmopolitan. A few things like Lancea 
tibetica, Pedicularis longiflora, and species of Gentiana, which grow 
out in the desert if there is water, are indigenous without doubt, 
but most of the plants are weeds that may be native but are 
probably introduced. When a country has been settled as long 
as parts of Central Asia it becomes difficult to tell what the 
indigenous flora is. 
If one unfamiliar with Ladak were to read through a systematic 
list of the species growing there he would suppose that the flora 
as a whole was mesophytic. This is chiefly because of the large 
number of weeds growing in the villages. As a matter of fact, 
most of the country is desert, but the number of truly xerophytic 
species is not proportionately large. 
Fotu La aNnD NAMIKA La* 
The following list of the plants collected on and near the 
barren Fotu and Namika Passes gives an idea of the type of plants 
that are found out in the open, away from the villages, at altitudes 
of from 10,000 to 13,000 feet. Even in this list there are a g 
many, such as the buttercups, the species of Triglochin, the 
gentians, the dandelion and the saxifrages, that grow only near 
springs in the desert. 
Funaria submicrostoma Silene Moorcroftiana 
Ephedra Gerardiana Ranunculus Cymbalaria 
Triglochin palustris ' pulchellus 
maritima Corydalis flabellata 
Pennisetum flaccidum Lepidum latifolium 
Agrostis alba Sisymbrium Columnae 
Bromus tectorum Christolea crassifolia 
Polygonum aviculare Sempervivum acuminatum 
Airiplex crassifolia Saxifraga sibirica 
Eurotia ceratioides Potentilla anserina 
Kochia prostrata : bifurca 
TARMEM, doe Sa ea ae 
* The Tibetan word “La” signifies Pass. 
