44 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
ranging in colour from the deepest rose to the purest white. Yet 
another species deserving of mention is Parrya Forrestii, a fine crucifer 
having the foliage of a Cheiranthus and spikes of brilliant orange 
blooms. 
Daphne aurantiaca, in sheets of orange bloom, and a fine dwarf 
procumbent form of Buxus, also occupied the ledges. 
On the higher alpine meadows, from the summits of the cliffs to 
the verge of the snows, is an indescribable wealth of bloom, the colour 
scheme changing from month to month as the seasons advance. Most 
of the species being gregarious, absolute sheets and carpets of colour 
are the result. Trollius, Anemone, Primula, Gentiana, Cremanthodium, 
Cyananthus, blue and yellow, Corydalis, Meconopsis, Pedicularis, 
Phlomis, Aster, Parnassia, Saxifraga, Orchis, Roscoea, Delphinium, 
Oxygraphis, Plectranthus, Salvia, Cerastium, Incarvillea, Morina — these 
are only a few of the many genera represented. Two of the finest, 
seeds of which were secured in 1913, are the magnificent Draco- 
cephalum Isabellae and the equally beautiful Anemone glaucifolia. 
The former is a new species, 14 to 18 inches high, with foliage resembling 
that of D. tanguticum, but with very much larger blooms. Those 
are 2J inches in length, of a rich shade of velvety bluish-purple, and 
freely produced. Anemone glaucifolia is a plant of 18 to 24 or 
even 30 inches, and was first collected by Delavay many years ago 
and described by Franchet. The leaves, which are pinnate, form a 
dense basal rosette, and, as with all other parts of the plant, are 
densely coated with a silvery down. The flowers are 2 to 2 J inches in 
diameter, and range in colour from the clearest blue to shades of 
purple. It is a glorious plant ! 
But even to enumerate the best of the species seen would require 
much time. Of Primulas alone over forty find their homes there ! 
In two seasons I collected seeds of fully eighty species on that and 
the neighbouring ranges. Any attempt at more than a mere super- 
ficial description of the beauty of the scene must necessarily fail. 
Even the photographs, characteristic as they may be, lacking the 
charm of colour, come far short of the reality. 
As already mentioned, the Haba Mountains, farther north-west, 
attain even a greater altitude, and form part of the system culminating 
in the north of the Chungtien plateau. On the way to Atuntze those 
mountains are crossed by one of the highest passes in the province, 
called the Bei-ma-shan, fully 16,000 feet high. For eight months of 
the year, from October to May, it is closed by snow. The summer 
is therefore very short, but, despite that, the flora is wonderfully rich 
and quite distinct. It was explored by me to some extent in 1913, and 
again in 1914, with excellent results, but as yet only a few of the 
new species have been dealt with. On that range Rhododendron Wardii, 
a grand species 14 to 20 feet in height, with bright yellow flowers, was 
first found in July 1913, as well as many others equally beautiful, such as 
R. uvarifolium, R. Roxieana, with rose-pink blooms, and R. Clementinae, 
with white and rose flowers. Several new Buddleias were added 
