164 P. D. DOGRA 



of the genetical potential of the species. Information on the different 

 provenances of P. wallichiana growing in the Himalayas should, therefore, 

 be useful to tree breeders in planning provenance tests and breeding 

 programs . 



DISTRIBUTION 



The blue pine occurs within latitudes 25°N to 36°N and longitudes 

 68°E to 100°E along almost the entire length of the Himalayas (Fig. 1). 

 Its altitudinal range, from 4,000 to 12,500 feet or even more, is greater 

 than that of any other Himalayan conifer. 



In the northwest Himalayas, the blue pine grows in abundance in the 

 Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. It is absent from some 

 regions of Kumaon but reappears in Nepal. In the east, natural forests 

 of blue pine are absent in Sikkim but are found in the Chumbi Valley on 

 the Tibetan side of the Sikkim border. The species is again abundant in 

 Bhutan but further eastward it is found only in small scattered patches 

 in Assam and on the north and east of the Brahmaputra. 



In horizontal distribution, the blue pine of the dry extreme north- 

 west is separated from that of the wet eastern regions by over a thousand 

 miles. Provenances from these two distinct climatic zones, therefore, 

 differ in their silvicultural requirements (Tables 1, 2). Information 

 is available on the blue pine of the northwestern and Nepal Himalayas 

 (Troup, 1921; Osmaston, 1922; Champion, 1936; Schweinfurth, 1957; Nakao, 

 1955; Kawakita, 1956), but little is known of blue pine forests of the 

 eastern parts (Troup, 1921; Schweinfurth, 1957; Champion, 1936; Shebbeare , 

 1934; Ward, 1942). 



The blue pine shows two distinct zones in the Himalayas, (1) the 

 moist southern outer zone, and (2) the dry northern inner zone beyond the 

 reach of monsoon rainfall (Fig. 6, Tables 1,2). 



The following account of its provenances is based on my personal 

 observations in the field from 1954 to 1965 on the blue pine distributed 

 vertically from 4,000 to 12,000 feet, from Beas to Ganga Valley, and 

 breadth-wise from Simla to Shipki pass (Sutlej valley, Fig. 6, see Dogra, 

 1964a) and from Mussoorie to Gangotri glacier (Bhagirathi - Ganga valley) 

 and on observations of others (mainly Troup, 1921; Osmaston, 1922; 

 Champion, 1936; Nakao, 1955; Kawakita, 1956; and Schweinfurth, 1957). 



PROVENANCES FROM NORTHWEST AND NEPAL HIMALAYAS 



The blue pine forests extend from Kashmir to Kumaon at elevations 

 from 4,000 to 12,500 feet or over (Fig. 1). This region is the biggest 

 blue pine area. The best forests grow between 6,000 and 9,000 feet. In 

 Kumaon, blue pine is found only in the dry zone; in the southern moist 

 zone, the species occurs only in few localities and is absent east of 

 the river Pindar (Osmaston, 1922). Except for this gap, the distribution 

 is continuous from Kumaon to Nepal (Fig. 1) . 



