Part 21 - 4th October halt; seed collecting near Dhu Chu and plans for Bumthang

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SUMMARY:
Describes a frosty halt day, continued collection of Gentiana (lacunulata), and praise for the seed collector Tupden. Notes comparisons of the Dhu Chu area with the Bumthang Chu, reports a letter from HH about upcoming arrivals (Hicks, MK, Tasho Drunyer), tallies seed and plant collections, and mentions confirmations by Ludlow and Taylor regarding Mec. Sherriffii.

CONTENT:
with Mec. paniculata, simplicifolia & horridula, all of which are in cultivation at home. Tupden is one of the best seed collectors there could be. He takes great pains & always goes on till called away. I wished to have had him from the beginning. Now I know him, I find him very good indeed. He is a Khampa, probably a runaway murderer or something like that, from Markham. The area of the Dhu Chu is something like shown opposite.

4th October Halt. Another lovely day, & very cold hard frost last night. The tents each night now are covered with frost inside & out, & this makes them very heavy. Nothing special happened today. I went out to look for more of yesterday's Gentiana (lacunulata) 19789, & after a while we found a lot of it. It reminds me of G. amplicrata which we first found at Zimsati near Sangacholing in Takpo. I don't think it is G. depressa, & certainly isn't G. amoena. The more I see of this area, the better it looks. It holds much more than the Bumthang Chu valley, although this is a tributary of the Bumthang Chu. It must be more than just not so many yaks here, although there is no doubt that many yaks, & sheep too, in a valley, make a very great difference to the flora. A letter came in from HH to say Tasho Drunyer will arrive on 6th. So with Hicks on 5th, MK on 6th & us on 7th, there will be some activity in Bumthang this week. The main seed collection is now over, & I have about 130 gatherings of seed now, besides the 40-50 taken before & some 25 rooted plants & a number of bulbs & tubers & corms & so on. Ludlow tells me he has 5 lbs. of seed of Mec. Sherriffii! That shows how common it is when it does occur. Taylor has confirmed that it is Mec. Sherriffii, but a very fine form of it.