48 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxx 



of the Salween divide in 1914, and tliese include P. obconica, 

 Hance, P. Beesiana, G. Forrest, P. helodoxa, Balf. £., 

 P. hella, Franch. (I believe), P. soncJii/olia, Franch., and 

 perhaps two more of the § Sonchifolia, one of § Omphalo- 

 gramma, and at least three new species not yet assigned to 

 their proper sections, besides others. Yet I believe very 

 few Primulas (/'>/•, P- Listeri, King) have been found in 

 Western Burma, though the mountains on the Burma- 

 Assam frontier are quite high enough for them ; while I 

 venture to pi-ophesy that, high as are the ranges which 

 separate the 'Nmai-hka from the Mali-hka, very few 

 Primulas will be fotnid there when those unknown 

 mountains, so well seen from Laza, come to be explored. 

 For the same reasons, stated below, I believe that few 

 Primulas will be found on the high mountains which, 

 curving round from Assam north-eastwards, form the 

 northern boundary of Burma, as far as the point where 

 the 'Nmai-hka cuts through. West of the 'Nmai-hka the 

 flora is entirely Indo-Malayan and monsoon. Screw-pines, 

 rattans and other palms, tree ferns, and a great variety of 

 Ficus trees, epiphytic orchids, climbing Aroids, etc., grow 

 there in profusion. Crossing the divide (8000 feet) between 

 the 'Nmai-hka and the Mali-hka in latitude 27°, not only 

 did I see no sign of any Primulas on any of these parallel 

 ranges, but no sign of anything other than endless monsoon- 

 forest ; yet many species of Primula grow below 8000 feet, 

 amongst an assemblage of alpines or subalpines, under very 

 similar conditions of climate, in the Hpimaw Hills. 



P. Forhesii, Franch., is recorded from the Shan States, 

 Burma, but Professor Balfour remarks that he doubts the 

 identification. There would, however, be nothing remark- 

 able in its appearance on the eastern frontier, as regards 

 distribution ; but when Mr. W. G. Craib remarks ^ of 

 P. obconica, Hance, recently said to have been found in 

 Upper Burma (probably the same plant that I came across), 

 " This is the first record of its occurrence in India," he must 

 Ije interpreted as referring to a corner of Further India. 

 For the purposes of distribution, Burma east of the 'Nmai- 

 hka is part of the Yunnan area, while the Assam-Burma 

 frontier is linked up with the Himalayas. 



1 Jourii. Roy. Hort. Soc, xxxix (1913), p. 186. 



