2 46 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [March, 



Quercus dilatata, both comparatively rare at Simlah, abound on the 

 crest of the Nynee Tal range almost overhanging the plains at the foot 

 of these hills, reaching to Kalaputhur. We find the Bengal Mudar, 

 Calotropis gigantea, both the purple and white varieties, in profusion ; 

 while, as Dr. Royle observes, the C. Hamiltonii only is found to the 

 N. W. It is curious to mark the exact line of demarcation between 

 different species : the Tree ferns reach to Burmdeo, where the Kalee 

 leaves the hills ; Ilex excelsa, unknown in Gurhwal and Sirmoor, is 

 common in Kumaoon, where also I lately found many plants of the 

 Chamcerops Martiana on the Ghagur range, two or three miles S. E. 

 of the Ramgurh bungalow, at about 5,500 feet elevation. The Thakil, 

 a mountain 8,000 feet high, near Petorahgurh, takes its name from this 

 palm. On the Ghagur, Binsur, &c. we also meet as a timber tree, a 

 Michelia, perhaps the Kisopa of Nepal, and in the Dikkolee and Bhu- 

 mouree Passes, Didymocarpus aromatica, called " Puthur-loung" 

 " Rock-clove," by the natives. But, probably owing to a milder or a 

 damper climate, not only do plants grow lower down, but also much 

 higher up, in Kumaoon than to the N. W. Thus the Rhododendron 

 arboreum (Boorans), and Andromeda ovalifolia (Uyar), which in Bu- 

 sehur we lose at about 8,500 feet, flourishes in the valleys of the Pindur 

 and Goree fully 2,000 feet higher, reaching the lowest limit of Rhodo- 

 dendron campanulatum, and flowering till June. On the west side of 

 the Dhakree Benaik we first meet the Rhododendron barbatum, about 

 the same size as the latter, or rather larger, and known by the same 

 name " Chimool ;" it is common above Diwalee. Here also occur Pyrus 

 lanata, " Gulion," crenata, "Moul, or Moulee," and foliolosa, " Sulia, or 

 Hulia ; " the " Moulee" is now ripe, and, though small, is the sweetest 

 wild fruit I know of. At about 7,500 feet, on the eastern side of the 

 mountain, a procumbent species of raspberry, perhaps the Rub us 

 foliolosus of Don, made its appearance, and gradually became more 

 abundant, covering every rock, bank, fallen tree, &c. and reaching up 

 to within three or four miles of the Pindur glacier. It has large white 

 flowers and excellent orange fruit, here called " Gungoor ;" the Sinjung 

 of Beans. Should this be identical with the " Ground Raspberry" of 

 Darjeeling, it affords another instance of the approach of species to the 

 plains as they extend S. E. along the Pindur above Khathee. Another 

 Rubus, the rugosus of Don, grows to be a large and very handsome shrub, 



