198 RYOTT VALLEY. Chap. XXV. 



feet ; it bears a yellow fruit like short cucumbers, full of a 

 soft, sweet, milky pulp, and large black seeds ; it belongs 

 to a new genus,* allied to Stauntoriia, of which two Hima- 

 layan kinds produce similar, but less agreeable edible 

 fruits (" Kole-pot," Lepcha). At Laghep, iris was abun- 

 dant, and a small bushy berberry (B. concinnd) with oval 

 eatable berries. The north wall of the house (which was 

 in a very exposed spot) was quite bare, while the south was 

 completely clothed with moss and weeds. 



The rocks above Laghep were gneiss ; below it, mica- 

 schist, striking north-west, and dipping north-east, at a 

 high angle. A beautiful yellow poppy-like plant grew in 

 clefts at 10,000 feet ; it has flowered in England, from seeds 

 which I sent home, and bears the name of Cat/icartia.f 



We continued, on the following morning, in an easterly 

 direction, up the same narrow steep ridge, to a lofty 

 eminence called Phieung-goong (alt. 12,422 feet), from 

 being covered with the Phieung, or small bamboo. Abies 

 Webbiana begins here, and continues onwards, but, as on 

 Tonglo, Mainom, and the other outer wetter Sikkim ranges, 

 there is neither larch, Finns excelsa, Abies Smithiana, or 

 A. Brunoniana. 



* This genus, for which Dr. Thomson and I, in our " Flora Jndica," have 

 proposed the name Decaisnea (in honour of my friend Professor J. Decaisne, the 

 eminent French botanist), has several straight, stick-like, erect branches from the 

 root, which bear spreading pinnated leaves, two feet long, standing out horizon- 

 tally. The flowers are uni-sexual, green, and in racemes, and the fruits, of which 

 two or three grow together, are about four inches long, and one in diameter. 

 All the other plants of the natural order to which it belongs, are climbers. 



f See "Botanical Magazine," for 1852. The name was given in honour of 

 the memory of my friend, the late J. F. Cathcart, Esq., of the Bengal Civil 

 Service. This gentleman was devoted to the pursuit of botany, and caused a 

 magnificent series of drawings of Dorjiling plants to be made by native artists 

 during his residence there. This collection is now deposited at Kew, through the 

 liberality of his family, and it is proposed to publish a selection from the plates, 

 as ;i tribute to his memory. Mr. Cathcart, after the expiration of his Indian service, 

 returned to Europe, and died at Lausanne on his way to England. 



