On the Road to Batang 109 
alone, it being impossible to get men so late in the season. 
The patches of alpine meadow land which occurred here 
and there along the streams between 12,000 and 14,000 feet 
were now gay with flowers, conspicuous amongst which were 
Primula pseudostkkimensis and numerous species of Pedz- 
cularts with immensely elongated corolla tubes. This latter 
genus is indeed richly represented in these mountains, ten 
or twelve species at least occurring commonly, though in 
very different habitats—in marshes, along the edges of 
woods, on barren rocky slopes, and on the alpine grass- 
land. The Himalayan region is also rich in Pedzcularts, 
as it is in so many of the Western China genera, and indeed 
the continuity of these two floras, to which Hooker long ago 
drew attention, is being yearly emphasized. 
To the summit of the eastern watershed was a long 
climb but I made it several times, finding numerous plants 
interesting both from a botanical and horticultural point of 
view. Immediately above A-tun-tsi came a shrub belt con- 
sisting almost entirely of scrub oak on the slopes exposed 
to sun and wind, but on the moist shady slopes exhibiting 
a rich assortment of Cotoneaster, Salix, Rhododendron, 
Populus, [Hippophaé, Philadelphus, Deutzia, with many 
beautiful roses such as &. serzcea, and a considerable her- 
baceous undergrowth. This undergrowth included, besides 
the plants previously mentioned, a yellow violet (Vzoda 
Delavayz), the Podophytlum already referred to, whose big 
pear-shaped fruits (which take four months to ripen) were 
beginning to turn red, and a very sweet-scented Pyrola 
(P. atropurpurea). 
Above this was a narrow forest belt of spruce, but 
including also larch and birch trees on north-facing slopes, 
where the snow melted more gradually; and above this 
again came the shrub belt of the alpine region, composed 
almost entirely of scrub rhododendron and a cream- 
flowered potentilla (P. /rutzcosa). This ended abruptly on 
the screes of the exposed slopes, but elsewhere it dwindled 
gradually into alpine grass-land, rich with saxifrages, gen- 
tians and other flowers, extending to about 18,000 feet. 
Up here, at 17,000 feet, springing from amongst huge 
blocks of grey stone, I found the glorious Cambridge blue 
poppywort (Aeconobsis speciosa), one of the most beautiful 
