43 



In the second or montane zone, Pinus excelsa is mf)st cr^mmon 

 and in this region, es[)ecially in the deei)er and better soils thc-re 

 are many deciduous hard woods such as Acer, PVaxinus, Rhus, 

 Juglans, Pyrus Prunus, Celtis, (Jhnus and SaHx. This zone 

 extends roughly from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. 'I'lie most valuable 

 tree is Cedrus deodara, closely related to the ('erlar of Lebanon. 



The sub-ali)ine zone extends to about 12,000 feet and the 

 most abundant tree is the Himalayan fir, Abies Pindrow. Asso- 

 ciated with the fir and replacing it toward the tree line is the 

 white birch, Betiila utilis. The three Kashmir rhodcxlendrons, 

 the alpine junipers and willows are found near and above the 

 birches. 



It is hard to give figures for the altitude of the alpine zone. In 

 sheltered places the snow lies longer at 9,000 than it does at 

 12,000 feet elsewhere and so alpine plants are commonly found 

 from 9,000 feet to the line of permanent snow which is between 

 14,000 and 15,000 feet on the Indian side of the Himalayas, and 

 much higher on the Tibetan side. 



I have been specially interested in the alpine and sub-alpine 

 zones about the camping ground of Sonamarg in the Scinde 

 Valley. The camping site is at 9,000 feet and the mountains are 

 from 14,000 to 15,000 feet. There are a number of small glaciers 

 and there is a good deal of permanent snow. 



Within five or six miles of camp I have gathered over 550 

 plants including ferns and flowering plants. The commonest 

 orders and genera are familiar to botanists in the north temperate 

 zone. The following have the most species : 



Ferns 



28 



Grasses 



36 



Sedges and Juncus 



23 



Buttercups 



28 



Crucifers 



18 



Caryophyllaceae 



22 



Peas 



22 



Rosaceae 



35 



Sedums, Saxifrages 



17 



Umbelliferae 



19 



Compositae 



63 



Primulas 



13 



Gentians 



13 



Borages 



10 



Scrophulariaceae 



20 



Labiatae 



23 



Polygonaceae 



16 



Conifers 



/ 



Orchids 



9 



Liliaceae 



13 



The following genera are the commonest and have ten or more 

 species in the area under review: Carex, Potentilla and Poly- 



