VEGETATION. ^1 



" Oaks, of which (including chestnuts) there are upwards of 

 eleven species in Sikhim, become abundant at about 4,000 feet, 

 and at 5,000 feet the temperate zone begins, the vegetation varying 

 with the degree of humidity. On the outermost ranges, and on 

 northern exposures, there is a dripping forest of cherry, laurels, 

 oaks and chestnuts. Magnolia, Andromeda, Sfi/rax, Pyrus, maple and. 

 birch, with an underwood of AraUaccw, HoUholUa, Limonia, Daphne, 

 Ardisia, 3f//rsine, Spnplocos, liubi, and a prodigious variety of 

 ferns. 



" Plectocomia and Musa ascend to 7,000 feet. On drier exposures 

 bamboo and tall grasses form the underwood. Rhododendrons 

 appear below 6,000 feet, at which elevation snow falls occasionally. 

 From 6 — 12,000 feet there is no apparent diminution of the hu- 

 midity, the air being near saturation during a great part of the year ; 

 but the decrease of temperature effects a marked change in the 

 vegetation. Between 6,000 and 8,000 feet epiphytical orchids are 

 extremely abundant, and they do not entirely disappear till a 

 height of 10,000 feet has been attained. Rhododendrons become 

 abundant at 8,000 feet, and from 10,000 to 14,000 feet they form 

 in many places the mass of the shrubby vegetation. Vaccinia, .of 

 which there are ten species, almost all epiphytical, do not ascend 

 so high, and are most abundant at elevations from 5,000 to 8,000 

 feet. 



" The flora of the temperate zone presents a remarkable 

 resemblance to that of Japan, in the mountains of which island we 

 have a very similar climate, both being damp and cold. Kelwingia, 

 Aucuba, Stachijurus, and Enkianthus may be cited as instances of 

 this similarity, which is the more interesting because Japan is the 

 nearest cold damp climate to Sikhim with whose vegetation we 

 are acquainted. At 10,000 feet (on the summit of Tongloo) yew 

 makes its appearance, but no other conifer except those of the 

 tropical belt is found nearer the plains than the mountain of Phalut, 

 on which Picea Webhiana is found, at levels above 10,000 feet. Abies 

 Brunoniana and the larch are found everywhere in the valleys 

 of the Lachen and Lachung rivers, above 8,000 feet. 



" A subtropical vegetation penetrates far into the interior of 

 the country along the banks of the great rivers ; rattans, tree- 

 fei'ns, plantains, screw-pines, and other tropical plants occurring in 

 the Ratong valley, almost at the foot of Kanchinjinga, and 5,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. With the pines, however, in the 

 temperate zone, a very different kind of vegetation presents itself. 

 Here those great European families which are almost entirely wanting 

 in the outer temperate zone become common, and the flora approxi- 

 mates in character to that of Europe. Shrubby Leguminosce, such 



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