REPORT ON A BOTANICAL TOUR IN SIKKIM, 1892. 
19 
Leaving" Lachung on the morning of the 3rd September, I took 
the following route. The Lachung valley path was taken for three 
miles to the village of Yakcha. Here the track tc Ghoia La breaks 
oil abruptly to the north-west, a direction which is pursued more or 
less the whole way. A short walk through a forest, containing 
beautiful Conifers, Picea Morinda, Tsuga Brunomana^ Larix 
Griffithii^ brought us to the Lachung, which is crossed by a good 
wooden bridge. On the other side it is steep for a short distance, 
and afterwards the path runs almost level over somewhat swampy 
ground. The river Sebu, which, from its source downwards, is a 
swiftly flowing torrent coursing through a boulder-strewn channel, 
here becomes broader, shallower and more tranquil. Small willow- 
trees fringe its banks, with Euonymus and Ilex intricata^ while 
Thalictrum is specially abundant. Beyond this, a sudden ascent is 
made along the base of a stony precipice with Woodsia lanersa grow- 
ing in its clefts ;■ and a little further on I found its allied species 
Woodsia elong^ta, the only occasion I recollect of their association, 
as the former affects a more alpine elevation as a rule. The re- 
mainder of the day’s march was steep through a large forest of silver 
fir, until we arrived at the first convenient camping ground, a cattle 
station named Sebu, artificially formed by a clearance in the forest. 
Here Ainsliosa fteropoda, Heraeleum^ and Galeopsts Tetf ahii mono- 
polized spots untrodden by cattie. 
The northern side of the valley is enclosed by a continuous preci- 
pitous spur, broken in one place only by a deep forest-clad depres- 
sion. At the foot of the chief one at the commencement of the 
valley, is a small temple where services are held on certain days of 
the year. The range on the other side being more gently sloped, is 
covered wichTorest and succeeding smaller vegetation, and is more 
diversified by ravines 
Of trees which do not extend above 10,500 feet in this valley^ are 
Picea Morinda, Tsuga Brunonianay Larix Grifiihii^ Prunus Padus^ 
Py-rus lanatus, Pyrus stkkimensiSy Hydrangea^ Ilex dipyrena. 
Above this elevation to 13,000 feet is a continuous forest of Abies 
Webbiana associated with Maples, Birch, Vibvrnmny Berberis^ and 
Rhododendron ; Aconituni Napellus grows luxuriantly on the grazing 
crround at Sebu. 
At 11,000 feet large trees Juniperus recurvus appear, and at 
13,000 feet (the upper limit of Abies Webbiana)^ and for a short dis- 
tance above it they form the only arboreal vegetation. 
From 13 to 15,000 feet there is an impenetrable growth of 
Rhododendrons and Willows, with numerous small trees of Pyrus 
foliolosay and P. microphylla ; and, intermingled with grass under- 
