52 
A NO Tl<: ON THE HIMALAYAN 
there may be a distinct break of approximately 1,500 ft. not covered by 
either species. When Daphne Surcil is planted in Darjeeling it does not 
set fruit so far as our observations go. 
Hooker not^s the occurrence of small alpine states 6 — 8 in. high in 
Sikkim. These we have observed both in the Western area and in 
Northern Sikkim. In the moist west they seem to be linked by a striking 
series of intermediates with D. cannabina , in the dry north with Tibetan 
conditions they are apparently dwarfs of D. retusa Hems. Of the for- 
mer series we have endeavoured to secure the successive stages determined 
by altitude and exposure. In the neighbourhood of Darjeeling plants 
which flower when leafless occur occasionally but this may be due to age 
or to bad health, as the shrivelled appearance of the bark and the smaller 
size of the flower compared with normal specimens in the same area 
would lead one to infer. The normal plants at this altitude (7 — 8,000 
ft.) have well developed leaves ht the time of flowering. In the belt 
about 8 — *10,000 ft. (well shown at Tonglo and neighbourhood) there is 
a gradual change until at 10,000 ft. on Tonglo, flowers and young leaves 
appear simultaneously at the apices of the shoots and the rest of the 
shrub is bare. So far the shrub has not shown much reduction in size. 
But between 10-,000 and 11,000 ft. (and possibly higher) this Daphne is 
exposed to much severer conditions and becomes gnarled and usually very 
dwarf. In the most exposed situations it is the 6 — 8 in. shrub described 
by Hooker, with stems frequently prostrate, lichen-covered and half 
buried in the soil. The flowers may appear contemporaneously with the 
young leaves or may precede them. These higher altitudes make a marked 
difference in the time of flowering; January and February at Darjeel- 
ing, 7,000 ft. ; April and first week of May at Tonglo, 10 — 11,000 ft. ; 
at Lachung, 8,500 ft., a much drier area, first week in May. 
The name glacialis is proposed for this high alpine variety. 
Daplino cannabina Wall., var, glacialis Smith & Cave: 
Frutex 15 — 30 cm. altus, nodosus, nonnunquam reptans, foliis deciduis, 
flores cum foliis nascentes vel saepe priores. 
The following is a piece of Lepcha folk-lore regarding the above 
variety. “ Such plants, flowering when leafless are to be found only 
occasionally, and when found and at the time of flowering, the flowers 
from the branches which are nearest the snow or nearest a snowy range, 
together with portions of the root on the same side of the plant are 
gathered and dried. From these a decoction is made and after clarify- 
ing is used a medicine, taken internally for ‘ pains in the stomach/ 
