840 
THE ALPINE AND SVB-AlPINE YEGETATWN 
that of an Umbellifer (Trachydium sp.) of small sizd. Sdxifraya fip., 
Geniiana amoenaj and a stray Erigeron muUiradiatus were the only 
plants in flower. 
Notwithstanding the winter aspect of the vegetation, however, the 
seeds of scarcely any species were entirely shed, those of the great 
majority of plants were shed only to a partial or small extent, and 
again others were quite unripe. The following had shed all or almost 
all their seeds : — Anemone vitifolia ; (some heads of seed were noticed 
still keeping their spherical form, although quite separated at the base 
from the old flowerhead and the sphere somewhat expanded) ; Corydalis 
sps., Meconopsis hella^ M, simplicifoliaj M. jpaniculatay M. horHdula*, 
(in all cases some seed remained in the lower part of the capsule of 
the Meconopsisj) Cathcartia villosa-^t\xe same; Primula ohtunfoUa, 
Pedicularis sps., Swertia sps.; Oxyria digyna and Rheum acuminatum haA 
lost seeds, although ihe majority of the Polygonaceae were still unripe ; 
some of the Compositce ; the majority of the Crucifera , Lloydia 
serotina. 
The seeds of practically all the rest of the plants were still unshed, 
although in many cases the stems were dry and the seed rattling in 
bhe Capsules — ^this was noticeably the case with the Aconites. 
Some perennial plants had made up the " bud ** on the apex of the 
3rown for the winter, as in the case of some of the Saxifrages and 
Parnassia (the large Saxifraga purpurascens in particular), many of 
the Gompositccy Rheum acuminatumy R, nohilcy Iris Clarheiy etc. Others 
had developed 'rosettes' of young leaves, lying more or less curled over 
each other towards the centre, and quite distinct from the old withered 
leaves outside ; examples of this were: — Anemone ohtusiloha and A* 
rupicola ; Meconopsis paniculata and M, nepaulensis ; were 6 to 
8 inches across and the leaves densely villous ; Cortia Hookeri ; Primula 
siJckimensiSy P, obtusi/dlia, the crown almost hard and leafless enough 
to call a bud ; P. Stuartii, P. petiolaris ; Bryocarpum htmalaicum. 
Others again had the small growths, with very small but fully 
developed leaves, clustering round the old stems as : — Inula ffookert, 
Erigeron muUiradiatus, Polygonum campanulatumy Euphorbia sikkimenais. 
The tops of tuberous and bulbous plants were as a rule quite dead, 
in some- cases dry, in others mucilaginous. No seedlings from seed of 
current season were seen, although in cases the seed of the same plants 
grown on the rockery at Darjeeling gives quite stocky little plants before 
the end of December. 
Rhododendron seeds were collected from about 14 species and all 
except three of these were amongst the snow, the smaller plants being 
