Part 209 - Tomtsang field notes and Primula observations

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SUMMARY:
Notes from fir forest observations and collecting, including comparison of a Primula resembling tsariensis, signs of shao, and an encounter with blood pheasants with chicks. At Tomtsang the day was misty with heavy rain; the route to the pass is steep and direct, with abundant Primula species observed but little new.

CONTENT:
Abies delavayi 2198
Pedicularis filiculiformis sp. nov. 2197

In fir forest is yet another primula which I thought was tsariensis 2194. It looks much the same, but it has a much longer scape & bigger though similar leaves. I left it at first, but as I have never seen 2195 in fir forest before, took it under 2196. Down here there are a good many signs of shao in the forest. I came across again a pair of blood pheasant, with chicks, one of which I caught, but I could not induce either parent to come nearer than 10 yards or so, so did not take a photo. Fine all day, but cloudy, & rather misty in the afternoon.

23rd June. Tomtsang. 8 m. 12600'. A foul day. Thick mist & heavy rain all day long. And we saw very little. Plenty of Prim. macrophylla, P. tenuiloba, dryadifolia, glabra, the bright one tsariensis 2195, & the yellow jucunda 2175, but little of interest as new. The road to the pass just goes straight up the side of the hill - I have never seen more direct route. Similarly it is pretty straight down this side for the first 500 ft, then eases off & finally very steep indeed down through the jungle. Here I had hoped to find more, but there is really