Part 8 - Collecting near Mula Karchung La; halt on 20 September

1 page

SUMMARY:
Seed collecting was limited by pests and grazing yaks; noted species include P. elongata, Arabis, Gueldenstaedtia, Cypripedium tibeticum, Sorbus ursina, and an Aconite bulbifera with bulbils in leaf axils. After rain and colder weather, the party planned to go to the pass; on 20th September they halted, dug roots of P. strumosa, photographed Gentiana veitchiorum, and admired a green lake below the pass with snowy peaks.

CONTENT:
can be everywhere at once. We got very little today - some P. elongata, an Arabis, Gueldenstaedtia not quite ripe, Cypripedium tibeticum ditto. Sorbus ursina up here has masses of fruit. From about 500-600 fruit taken I am keeping 11 only. The rest all have a small caterpillar in them, & some of the 11 may have also. Otherwise too, seed is difficult here. If the plant grows on a cliff, one can get seed; if not the yaks eat it. P. elongata has been eaten in a place there was masses, & all we got was what remained on a cliff. The most interesting thing today was an Aconite bulbifera 19752, taken once before, which has bulbils in the leaf axils. I did not know this happened in aconites before, & certainly have seen it in no other species than this one. Very heavy rain last night again & when we left today, but it has been mostly fine today, but with little or no sun. We mean to go up to the pass tomorrow unless weather very bad. It has got very much colder up here now.

20th September. Halt. After a lot of rain at night & a thick mist in the morning, this turned out to be a lovely day, one on which we could well have gone up to the Mula Karchung La. But we stopped on the way several times to get roots of P. strumosa, & to take photos of Gentiana Veitchiorum, which with a nice sunny day, were at their very best. Even the yaks cannot dispose of all of them, though they do their best. For that reason, one finds banks which are undercut and safe to walk on, have the finest show of this Gentian - yaks don't go there to graze. The lake below the pass was beautiful indeed. It is green, & the snows behind with a blue sky make a wonderful setting. I tried to get some Gentians as a foreground to