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Kucha La and Kulu Lungma field notes, 25–27 July

LSH/1/1/6/1/111 · Part · 1933-07-25 - 1933-07-27

Part of The Ludlow & Sherriff Collection

SUMMARY:
Notes from Kucha La and nearby valleys describe poor flowering despite promising terrain, with common Primula (including Dryadifolia/tsangensis and nivalid forms) and several Meconopsis. Weather shifts from clear to mist, rain, and thunder lead to a move back to Kulu Lungma; wildlife seen or reported include lerwa with young, Heteroxenicus stellatus, bear tracks and cubs, deer, and possible wild cattle. A hypsometer reading near the Go nyi re ridge suggests an elevation around 15,800 ft.

CONTENT:
Kucha La

over a good bit of the hill to the E of the Pass saw nothing new. The nivalid primula is fairly common but over. The Dryadifolia one is also here & P. jonardunii (Dryadifolia). Little else. We move by N of the range tomorrow. I see clouds again rushing up from the S west over the hills, that the good spell must be about over now. It has been lovely weather.

Kucha La
25th July. Halt. Fairly clear for an hour or two in the morning, then mist over everything. We were back by 3.0pm, it cleared up after rain & thunder by 4.0pm. Although the country looks perfectly wonderful for flowers, it is very poor indeed, there is no point in stopping longer, so we go back to Kulu Lungma tomorrow & try there. Prim. Dryadifolia (P. tsangensis) of the Tsanangha 5865 (= 5931) & also the nivalid primula 5872 (P. calliantha), no longer in flower, are both common; P. chamaethauma also (no flower) but no P. valentiniana or others expected here. P. jonardunii (Dryadifolia) is also common. Mec. betonicifolia at camp abounds, & a rather poor coloured M. simplicifolia, M. horridula & M. sinuata (speciosa) (5940). I saw many lerwa today, with young just able to fly. Also Heteroxenicus stellatus near the Tsanangha, also with young, about the top limit of abies zone.

Kulu Phu Chu
26th July. Kulu Lungma. 6 1/2 miles. Rain at night, mostly fine today, with bright intervals. Went up the Kucha La first thing to take the height. We looked about there a little, but there is nothing but a little P. valentiniana & some P. nivalis sect. in seed. So we came on here, will work this area for a couple of days as perhaps there is good. We saw fresh tracks of bear this morning, the coolies saw two young bear the day we arrived. Much deer also pretty common. The coolies also said they saw some kind of wild cattle near the Kucha La - not yaks of course. I don't know what they would be.

27th July. Halt. Fine all day, but clouded, with bright intervals. We went off at 5.45 & came back at 4.0pm, up the ridge to the North of the valley. It is a continuation of the Go nyi re ridge, so we thought it might be good. And it is not bad. I took a hypsometer reading about 400 ft from the extreme top of the ridge, BP 186.2 T. 57. at 2.0pm., giving an approx ht of 14800, which puts the ridge at 15800', so we climbed about 4500' today. We are too late for the primulas of the semi dry (dry winter wet summer) zone. The little dwarf nivalid (P. amabilis?), 5889, primula is common, we found one solitary flower, from which I would certainly say it is nivalid. We also found a little more of

Kulu Phu Chu and Kucha La route with botanical records

LSH/1/1/6/1/108 · Part · 1933-07-21

Part of The Ludlow & Sherriff Collection

SUMMARY:
Botanical notes along the Kulu Phu Chu include multiple Primula and Gentiana species with specimen numbers, with observations around 11,500'. Detailed route directions run from Kongshong to Kucha Leku and up to the Kucha La, noting valley bearings, river crossings, forest and swampy meadows (including Kulu hungma with yak herds), and a side path to Member Tso and the Tamnyen Chu; entries are dated 23 July and at Kucha La on July 24.

CONTENT:
540 Kulu Phu Chu. 23 July. Anaphalis corymbosa 5911. Aster himalaicus 5912. Pedicularis paludosa 5913. Valeriana hardwickii 5916. Thalictrum chelidonii 5919. Epilobium sikkimense sub. ludlowianum 5921.

Primula jaffreyana. Not in flower. In a wetter zone than previously seen.
Primula chungensis. Flowers almost all over.
Primula chamaethauma. Very low, at 11,500'.

Line of valley of Kulu Phu Chu from Kucha La direct to mouth between Pana Thamdo is 290° approx.

Kongshong to Kucha Leku. Keep up the Right bank through forest from mile 1, where the path rounds the foot of a cliff. The river may be over the path here in summer. Thence level to 1 1/2, then a fairly steep ascent to mile 3, over a ridge. After this descent gradual, then level or nearly so, through forest the whole way to a small clearing at 5 1/2. Ascent then very gradual through forest to a large swampy meadow where yak herds live in summer at 6 1/2. This is called Kulu hungma. Line of valley approx 90°.

From Kulu hungma keep up the Right bank of the Kulu Phu Chu through Abies forest, alternating with open swampy meadows for three miles. Then the valley narrows and the forest is entered, the valley turning a little more Eastwards at mile 4. At mile 5 cross the river and start the ascent to the Kucha La. The ascent is beside the Left bank to mile 5 1/2, gradual, then very steep indeed to the La (BP. 188.6 52 730 26/7 Ht. 13,222' approx) at mile 6 1/2. The path goes directly up the ridge running parallel to the river, does not follow up the river, but,

A path leads up North from the bottom of the final ascent to the Kucha La, over the rocky ridge to the Tamnyen Chu. 1/2 mile over the ridge is a big lake called the Member Tso, and from this the Tamnyen Chu flows due North to Tamnyen.

Kucha La - July 24. Gentiana taylorii sp. nov. type 5929. Gentiana praeclara 5930. Gentiana leucantha 5934 sp. nov. type.

Langong botanical notes and bird nesting records, May 1938

LSH/1/1/6/1/60 · Part · 1938-05-28 - 1938-05-29

Part of The Ludlow & Sherriff Collection

SUMMARY:
Field notes from Langong list multiple Primula specimens with observations on flowering, variation, and a possible hybrid, and note nearby passes (Lo La/Shethang La and Chubumbu La) used in July–August. Bird nesting records for Crossoptilon harmani and Blood Pheasant at about 12,000 ft are dated 28–29 May 1938.

CONTENT:
Langong - May 38. Primula macrocephala 3889, R. laudandum 3900, agglutinatum form 3902, Lil. nanum 3903, Gaultheria trichophylla 3905, Androsace delavayi 3906, Mec. integrifolia 3909, Trichophragma 3910, Lloydia serotina 3915.

30a Littledalei Langong

Primula rotundifolia. Very early. Almost in full bloom, certainly so in a good many cases. It was in full flower on the Kashong La (15000') on 15th July.
Primula chamaethauma. Has a very short flowering period, and grows where snow has just melted.
Flowers vary a good deal in colour, but I think the very great majority are almost the same.
When flowers fall off, the scape has not yet appeared. But this is not always the case as is shown by —

3894 P. chamaethauma x P. Roylei? 3893 and 3894 grow together. 3894 are a few specimens which seem rather different to the typical form. Both grow among P. Roylei. Is this one a cross between 3893 and P. Roylei? The long scape and the short pedicels rather point that way, and the colour of the flower is nearer P. Roylei. But it has none of the unpleasant smell of the latter, which was very noticeable in the plants of P. Roylei here.

Primula macrophylla. I was not sure whether to call this P. macrophylla or P. macrocarpa. It differs from each, as far as I have seen them before. It is small for P. macrophylla, and has a very large white ring outside the eye at the base of the lobes.
Primula sikkimensis. Langong.
Primula yargonjensis. Langong.

VALLEY TO SOUTH has a path up it by which Lopas come in July - August. It is known as the Lo La on the South side, and the SHETHANG LA this side. Rough bearing from Langong = 145°.

VALLEY to Lopa country leaving the main valley about 1 1/2 m W. of Langong leads to the CHUBUMBU LA, also not open till July - August.

LANGONG CROSSOPTILON HARMANI. c/7. 12000'. 28.5.38. All eggs difficult to blow. Nest said to be in a hole under shrubs, no particular making of a nest, just use of a natural place.

BLOOD PHEASANT. I. kuseri. c/6 12000' 29.5.38. Chicks with a few feathers on them in all eggs. Nest under a dwarf juniper bush, in a hole in the ground. No special things used for nest, just made with the leaves of the juniper, dead grass and moss. Not lined in any way. Parent bird had been driven off before I arrived, but a few feathers of her blood pheasant were in nest, and 2 birds within 40 yds.

Langong halt: plant collecting, bird eggs, and travel plans

LSH/1/1/6/1/61 · Part · 1938-05-29

Part of The Ludlow & Sherriff Collection

SUMMARY:
At Langong, the diarist records collecting several Primula and other alpine plants, observing a new warbler (P. tibetanus), and noting marmots and lingering snow. A clutch of Crossoptilon eggs and a blood pheasant egg are obtained; the gyimpon arrives and promises coolies, and plans are made to explore valleys between Pa La and Lo La before visiting the Pachakshiri Loba.

CONTENT:
Langong

depressed, but then we saw P. bariensis, and knew that there would be other things as well. For a change, the second time only, I did not take a gun, and of course saw the new warbler P. tibetanus. There were two of them, in juniper scrub, just as on the Bimbi La. Of interesting things, we saw Mec. simplicifolia - and I particularly examined the filaments, which were white. Then Tsonypon brought in a primula, which I think must be P. chamaethauma 3893 (P. chionantha 3893). Then P. macrophylla 3894, 3895 (P. macrophylla var. macrocarpa 3895) was seen. Then over a ridge we found in almost full flower that delightfully pretty - and fragrant - P. rotundifolia. On the whole a good day. There are many marmots running about, now the snow is off the ground. The actual pass is probably still covered with snow, as there were huge drifts a good deal lower than the highest we went, on the North faces. I heard on return that one man had already found a nest of Crossoptilon, but he has not brought the eggs yet.

29th May. Halt. Langong. Fine most of the day, but clouded and showery. Started in the morning about at 11.00 a.m. Saw nothing much. In fact there is remarkably little in the valley. Collected Primula yargongensis 3914. Our offer for eggs is doing well. Today got a clutch of seven eggs of Crossoptilon, nest on the ground in a bush. Later on a man came in with one blood pheasant's egg, and will see the nest tomorrow. The eggs were very difficult to blow, having chicks inside. (P. dryadifolia 3917, Rhododendron v. microstoma 3918, Ranunculus 3919, 3923, Primula 3925, Gal. nambanensis 3920, Corydalis 3921, 3922, Lonicera litangensis 3926).

30th May. Halt. Langong. Mostly fine in Langong, but rain mist on the hills all day. I went up the valley immediately North of Langong village, running parallel to the Tscha valley. There is nothing in any of these valleys till one gets to 13,500 feet or so. Then primulas appear. This is a fine valley, with a good sized lake at about 13,500 feet above which there is a fine waterfall. But flowers are few and far between, and I think we are really too early yet. The gyimpon has arrived, seems very helpful and friendly. He wants to go off for 8 days, but has promised coolies all I want in the meantime. My plans are to stay here two more days, and then go West, up a valley which lies between the Pa La and Lo La routes. Stay there four days and return here for two before going off to the Pachakshiri Loba on the 9th, for a week. That will take up all the time I can spare in this area. Everything here seems to be late. Snow lies pretty thick on the hills yet, and nearly all passes are shut. Tsari Sama - known generally as Tsari Sarpa, "the new Tsari" is not