REPORT ON A BOTANICAL TOUR !N SIKKIM, 1892. 
3 
Sikkim, are altogether absent. Above 1 1,000 feet the most notable 
plants are Aconites and Meconopsis WalUchti, and a few species each 
of the genera Ranunculus^ Anemone^ Potentilla^ F rimula, etc. 
Fragaria Daltonidna occurs here and there, bearing narrow oblong 
fruits, reminding one of small strawberries and resembling them in 
flavour. The road from Sandakphu to Phalut passes through a 
forest of Abies Webbiana^ associated with Pyrus foliolosa^ Betula 
utilis^ Acer caudatum and Prunus rufa^ etc,, underneath which are 
thickets of various Rhododendrons and two species of bamboo. 
One of the latter is Arunainaria spathiflora which flowered two years 
ago, a fact attested by the dead culms still bearing the withered spathe- 
like sheaths of the inflorescence. Its average height is 10 to 12 feet. 
The other is what Mr. Gamble named A. Ga^nmieana from speci- 
mens of the foliage only ; but, having since examined flowers, he has 
discovered it to be A. racemosa^ Munro, a plant which, although so 
abundant round Darjeeling as to be almost exclusively used as 
fodder for ponies, has never been known to flower there. The 
Phalut plant, which differs so much in size and appearance, having 
reddish stems with an average height of 3 feet, may of course owe its 
diminutive size to the more rigorous climate of higher levels preventing 
its attainment to a normal growth. These two bamboos, the most 
Alpine species in Sikkim, grow in impenetrable scrubs in the same 
spongy soil which affords support to Rhododendrons and Pines. 
On the slopes immediately below the summit of Phalut arboreal 
vegetation is scanty and confined to sheltered ravines. . The ground 
is everywhere covered with a sward of herbaceous plants. Anemone 
rivularis with blue and white flowers predominates. Primula rotun- 
difolia and sikkimensii (the latter affecting marshy situations in 
company with Calatkodes pahnata) ar-e common. Meconopsis 
Wallichii is extremely abundant. The Bhutias eat the young stems 
of this plant, and the shoots of a Polygonatum are much esteemed by 
the Gurung shepherds. The young shoots of bamboos are cooked 
aiid eaten. Rheum acuminatum is prevalent throughout the whole 
of Alpine Sikkim, but is not utilized as food. Allium Wallithti, 
which is equally abundant, is consumed laigely, sharing with the 
common onion the reputation of being an efficacious antidote against 
the physical discopnforts experienced by men and animals at high 
elevations. 
From Cheabhanjan onwards to Kinchinjuiiga, the only available 
path is that u§ed by the shepherds, who pasture their Docks along 
the whole range during summer. For many miles this track 
~ follows the contour of the spur’s crest, so that every clay’s march 
comprises many descents and ascents. As might be iiiierred iron? 
