A BOTANICAL TOUR IN SIKKIM. 209 



multiradiatus, some species of Senecio, Anaphalis and Aster are equally plen- 

 tiful. Various Thalictrums and Halenia elliptica, all with blue and white 

 flowers, grow in the grass and low thickets. Orchids are well represented by 

 many Habenarias, Satyrium, and the small purple Orchis Chusua (allied to 

 the common 0. latifolia of England). The monkshood was flowering and 

 attained a height of 6 feet in flat grassy fields. Cattle and horses are allowed 

 to graze at large in places infested with this plant, but sheep and goats do 

 not possess the same instinctive knowledge of its poisonous properties, and 

 great care has to be exercised by the shepherds when driving them through 

 these localities. 



Myricaria germanica, Allium, Meconopsis simplicifolia, whose spikes 3 feet 

 in height greatly excel the stunted specimens seen on Singalelah, the large 

 wild Rose (Rosa macrophylla) with bright red fruits, and shrubby Berberies, 

 were all common. 



The following day was Sunday, so I halted at Yeumtong. The tents were 

 pitched between the huts and the river which flows tranquilly in a broad shallow 

 bed down the whole length of the flat. Opposite is the snowy mountain 

 with a glacier reaching a lower level than any other in Sikkim as Sir J. D. 

 Hooker mentions ; a thick turf of grass covered the surface of the flat. A yellow 

 anemone (A. obtusiloba") with leaves appressed to the ground, a surculose 

 Saxifrage, the Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, the aromatic yellow Elsholtzia 

 eriostachya, and groups of brilliantly yellow-flowered Senecio diversifolius, gave 

 colour to the scene. A small swamp north of the camping ground was brighten- 

 ed by the yellow flowers of Pedicularis tubiilora, and a small floating 

 Ranunculus, and beyond, in a small wood of Silver fir, I found many specimens 

 of Meconopsis simplicifolia and M. nepalensis in fruit. I collected a large 

 supply of seed from the former, but nearly every capsule of the latter had 

 been destroyed by a small white caterpillar. Neither species ever grows in the 

 open, both preferring the shelter afforded by rocks or small bushes on the 

 skirts of the thickets. The commonest plant was Cnicus eriophoroides with 

 strongly spinose leaves which penetrate the thickest cloth, and cause a smarting 

 sensation in the skin. Other plants were Salvia glutinosa, Lychnis nutans, 

 Cucabalus baccifer and Asarum himalaicum. 



Aroids of the genus Arisosma are common. In early summer their tuberous 

 roots are prepared and used for food according to the method described by 

 Sir J. D. Hooker. I was presented with a few glutinous cakes made in the 

 most approved style, but the taste was so peculiarly disagreeable that I could 

 not persuade myself to eat more than one mouthful. 



Yeumtong is a large cattle -grazing station and depot for Tibetan exports and 

 imports. Communication thus far from the lower valleys is kept open by the 

 people of Lachung who carry loads of planks, bamboo, rice, dye-stuffs, such 

 as the leaves of Symplocos and the roots of Rubia cordifolia, which are trans- 

 ported by yaks to Tibet. In exchange the Tibetans bring down loads of salt, 

 barley, blankets and other commodities for the inhabitants of Lower Sikkim. 



