CONIFERS IN YUNNAN.pdf - Porterhowse Farms

A PLANT ADDICT IN YUNNANBy: Don HowsePORTERHOWSE FarmsAs the cold rain dripped from the end of my nose and from my fingertips, I looked wantonly at the largependulous cones of Pinus armandii. They were at eye level, but were in the top of a tree about 20 feet outof reach. I was standing on the edge of a road above the roaring Bei Shui (White Water River). The tree wasgrowing on the steep slope below where I was standing. I knew that the cones were loaded with seed, and Iwanted to take some home. But the cones were not accessible, and our hosts, the staff from the KunmingBotanical Institute were urging our intrepid group of North American plant enthusiasts to move on. Wewere on our way to a hillside above the river where several species of Primula could be found. Most of thegroup were here to collect seed of the many unusual herbaceous plants known to be found in thesemountains. Bei Shui flows in the valley below the Yulong Shan, or Jade Dragon Mountains.It had been a long and arduous journey since our group had gathered together at the airport in Los Angeleson Tuesday, September 16, 1997. Most of us were from the Pacific Northwest, but not all. Sue Milliken hadalready traveled across the country from Vermont. Diana Reeck, of Collectors Nursery in Battle Ground,Washington had organized this venture. Mariah Steenson and Diana Ballentyne, both from Oregon, KellyDodson from Washington State, and Ted Herrington, from Vancouver, British Columbia were my othertraveling companions. From Los Angeles we flew to Kunming, Yunnan, where we were greeted by ourhosts from the Kunming Botanical Institute.Although the city of Kunming sits at about 6500 ft. in elevation it is relatively warm there. I soon realizedthis fact as I became aware of the vegetation used as landscape material. On our short ride to the KunmingHotel from the airport I noticed that the plants used to landscape the public areas were similar to those wehad last seen in California; palms, bougainvilleas, hibiscus, and Deodar Cedars. The streets were lined withtwo conifers, Cedrus deodara and Cupressus torulosa. They were planted in long rows at the edge of thepavement along the boulevards. They must have been grown in a nursery situation as they were recentlyplanted, and were all about the same size. However there was a lot of variation in form and color, so Isurmised that they were grown from seedlings. As I observed them I realized that there were many that Iwould have selected and propagated for their superior form or habit. Another conifer that we saw used,especially around the hotel was Juniperus chinensis ‘Kaizuka’, or the Hollywood Juniper. Our Chinesehosts identified this plant as Sabina kaizuka. All Junipers there are given the Genus name Sabina.The Kunming Botanical Garden along with the Institute is located outside the city on land adjacent to theAgricultural Institute, or college. The gardens have developed with an emphasis for growing plants ofmedicinal value. Only recently have the Chinese begun to realize the aesthetic value of plants. We met withour hosts in their offices. Sun Weibang was our guide and primary host. He spoke very good English, farbetter than any Chinese we attempted. His superior Mr. Guan Kayam, the director of the KunmingBotanical Institute, who also spoke good English, accompanied him. Also in attendance was Prof.Wang, anoted authority on the Rhododendrons of China. Prof. Wang is an outstanding taxonomist and botanist whohelped us identify the many plants we found during our field trips. He did not speak English, but we allcommunicated well in botanical Latin. Young Mr. Li accompanied us throughout our entire trip and aidedSun Weibang, his boss. He seemed to be in training for hosting future groups like ours. We had 2 driversassigned to our entourage. Mr. Zhong was the driver of our bus, which we used to travel throughoutnorthwest Yunnan. Another Mr. Li, (a common Chinese name) drove a small van that carried all our gearand supplies for the 21 day adventure. Our host were very cordial and attentive to all our needs and wants.After sharing tea, and exchanging some gifts we were given a tour of the gardens and arboretum. Weentered the walled garden through a moon gate and followed a stone pathway. The stones had been lain inamazing patterns. This was an old garden with many trees and shrubs as well the herbaceous material. Itwas all awe-inspiring. Among the plantings were a number of conifers, including Pseudolarix amabilis,Podocarpus forrestii, Taxodium ascendens, Taxodium distichum, Taxodium mucronatum, Glyptostrobuspencilis, Ketleeria evelynianum, and Juniperus chinensis. The walled garden was a magnificent collectionof native plants of Yunnan. However there seemed to be a number of introduced species not native toYunnan also represented.1

In China during the past fifty years plants were collected and evaluated for their food or medicinal value,rather than aesthetics. Only recently have the staff of the Kunming Botanical Institute become aware of theaesthetic value of plants, and have started to collect and grow them with that in mind. Perhaps it is theinfluence of the western visitors who have come to collect the many unusual species that has precipitatedthis change. Our hosts delighted in showing us the many unusual selections they were now making of theirnative species. After touring the old garden, we were then taken to their conifer collection, which wasdisplayed on a spacious grassy slope. The first plant they took us to was a very rare specimen of Cathayaargyrophylla. It was a recent introduction to their collection, as this tree only stood about three feet tall.Other conifers we observed in the collection included Cedrus deodara, Juniperus squamata, Juniperuschinensis, Juniperus recurva-coxii, Platycladus orientalis, Fokenia hodgensii, Glyptostrobus pencilis,Taiwania cryptomerioides, Taiwania flousiana, Keteleeria pubescens, Keteleeria evelyniana, Podocarpusforrestii, Pseudolarix kaempheri, Picea likiangensis, and Abies georgei. There were many other conifers inthe collection, and often several variants of each species. They had an extensive collection of Juniperuschinensis variants, all of which they listed as forms of Sabina.With a warm rain falling we left the city of Kunming and started a tedious nine-hour drive to Dali, in thewest of Yunnan. We crossed several mountain ranges and rivers enroute. The scenery was spectacular, asthe clouds lifted and we could see the mountains and valleys. Sun Waibang pointed out the rare andendangered Calocedrus macrolepis on the hillsides not far from Kunming. Later I noticed that themountainsides were covered with pine and what appeared to be a fir. The pine turned out to be Pinusyunnanensis, which is an extensive fast growing forest tree in the warm lowlands of western Yunnan. Itcovers vast areas of the lower mountain slopes. It is an attractive pine with long yellowish green needles,borne on a broad branch structure. The fir that I had scene was not a fir, but rather Keteleeria evelyniana.From a distance it appeared like true fir, with glossy dark green needles, and a narrow upright habit. Thehighway (two-lane road, heavily burdened with traffic, and mostly under construction) was lined withEucalyptus trees, which had been planted many years prior.We passed through numerous villages. Some of the inhabitants were dressed in distinctive attire. It wasexplained to us that in Yunnan there are 26 separate nationalities, each with distinctive customs andcostumes. Before we reached Dali, we passed through areas of the Yi people who wore dark blue tunics andblack head turbans. In Dali we encountered the Bai people. The Bai women with bright pink and blueclothing and white turbans were very aggressive trying to sell their handcrafted items in the marketplace andon the streets of the town. Dali is a tourist mecca on the shore of Er Hai (Ear Lake), at about 7,000 feet inelevation. The Can Shan range rises to about 13,000 feet abruptly above the city. We stayed in the RedCamellia Hotel in the center of the old city. There were many European tourists in the cafes and shops,which were designed to cater to the western visitor. The hand painted signs adorning the shops were quiteamusing, with their attempts to use English. One shop offered “Rare Crap”. A shop specializing ingemstones and rocks called itself the “Queer Rock Shop”. Entrepreneurs had arrived with the westerntraveler, as we found the “Internet Café”, and as we sipped coffee we could sit at a computer and send an e-mail home for about $1.15. Later in the trip I called home using my AT&T calling card and the call costover $90.00. Most of the other tourists in Dali seemed young, like students. Some were obviously hikingin the mountains, or sailing on the lake, or biking. Bicycles could be rented for trips into the surroundingarea.During the evening hours or early in the morning we went out into the town and enjoyed the ambiance. Wefound a delightful park behind the hotel. In the park were large Datura (Angel’s Trumpet) trees in fullbloom and very sweetly scented. We were warned not to handle the blossoms by local residents, as they arepoisonous. In the morning we watched the local people perform Tai Chi to recorded music. We then founda golden form of Cunninghamia lanceolata, the China Fir. It was a tree standing about 35 feet, and withglossy golden foliage. It did not appear chlorotic, but rather truly a golden form of the species. Later wetook Sun to see it. He did not know it existed. He said he would come back and take cuttings from it soon.Sun then led us on a brief tour of the town. In a school courtyard he showed us two large Podocarpusforrestii planted by George Forrest. They had massive trunks. We drove up into the front range of the CanShan to about 10,500 feet. We departed the van and started to hike back down the road we had justascended. The vista out over Dali and Er Hai was spectacular. The sun shone brightly on the landscapebelow. Misty clouds swirled about the ridge tops above us. There was blasting occurring nearby, as theChinese cut marble from these mountains. Dali is the Mandarin word for marble. It is a fine stone often used2

as inlay in furniture. Many fine artifacts are made from the marble also. We were told we would return tothe same spot the next day and hike upward into the alpine zone, where we would find some Abies andTsuga trees and many fine alpine treasures. We found a few small specimens of Tsuga dumosa soon afterwe started to hike. They were small, and did not bear any cones. As we descended the mountainside wefound a forest of Pinus armandii with long soft grayish green needles and large green cones. The coneswere not ready to release their seeds. I did find a couple of old cones on the ground that had come downduring a storm attached to a limb. These cones had some seed remaining behind the scales. I hope it is stillviable. Farther down the mountainside I found a grove of dark green Cunninghamia lanceolata. We didfind numerous herbaceous plants, from which we did collect seed, as well some woody broadleaf shrubs.On the lower slopes we passed through thickets of Pinus densata, a small scrubby pine with fascicles of twodark green needles.The following morning with a steady rain falling we again attempted to ascend the Can Shan to hike to thealpine zone. However a short distance up the very rough and narrow road we encountered a broken downlory (truck), overloaded with great slabs of marble. It sat in the center of the road, abandoned, with a brokenaxle. There was no way we could get past it to continue our journey up the mountainside. We had to besatisfied with the plant selection on the lower slopes, which was diverse and very interesting, but not alpine.Among the shrubs and trees we found were Piptanthus nepalensis, Hypericum forrestii, Indigoferapendula, Cotoneaster microphylla, Lycosteria formosa, Rosa sp., and several species of Rhododendron.We found a large and diverse selection of herbaceous plants including: Aconitum hookeri, Arisaemaconsanguineum, Arisaema franchettianum, Astilbe grandis, Codonopsis forrestii, Cyananthus delavayi,Gentiana sp., Iris delavayi, Paeonia delavayi, Polygonatum sp., and many others. Climbing plantsincluded Aconitum episcopale, Rubus tricolor, and Stauntonia sp.From Dali we drove north over hills and valleys to the city of Lijiang near the Yulong Shan (Jade DragonMountains). A short distance from Dali we were detained on the road by a massive traffic jam at a countryfair. Sunday is market day. The normally busy highway was jammed with people in very colorful costumes,riding in trucks and on trailers behind tractors, and on horse drawn carriages, and on foot. Many peoplewere carrying their purchases home, which included furniture, enormous rice shucking baskets, produce,marble or cut stone artifacts, carved timbers, and all kinds of household tools and fixtures. Many peoplewere leading livestock along the road, which included horses and ponies, mules, cattle, water buffalo, pigs,goats, flocks of geese, ducks, and other poultry. It was an intriguing view of the local populace. Enroute toLijiang we stopped often to look at and photograph the roadside plants, usually herbaceous in type. Thevalleys and lower hills were blanketed with forests of Pinus yunnanensis. The species name ‘yunnanensis’is used on many plants here. However Yunnan is known world wide for its rich and diverse selection oftemperate plants. The great plant hunters of the 19 th and early 20 th centuries all converged on Yunnan tocatalog and collect the many unusual plants. The famous plant hunters whose names adorn many wellknown plants of Yunnan include Jean Pierre Armand David, Jean Marie Delavay, Francois Ducloux,George Forrest, Francis Kingdom Ward, Joseph Rock, and Ernest H.Wilson. As we traveled by coachthrough the verdant countryside I could imagine these great men traveling by foot and perhaps pack train tothe remote mountains and valleys to collect the many plants we grow today in our gardens.Lijiang is a rapidly growing modern city with many tall buildings and broad boulevards on its outskirts. Inthe center of the city is the old town of Dayan with narrow cobbled streets, and ornate houses and shops allwith tile roofs. The Naxi people are the native nationality that resides in this region. We must have gainedaltitude coming here from Dali, as the street trees are now Picea likiangensis, the native spruce of the area.As we crested the mountains south of Lijiang we had a sweeping view of the valley where the city sits, andthe majestic snow covered Yulong Shan, reaching up to 18,000 feet. However the next day it began to rain,which it continued to do for the entire time we were in the Lijiang area. We stayed in a hotel in Lijiang andtraveled out each day into the surrounding area to hike and look for plants. During the early mornings andevenings we would venture out into the city to take in the atmosphere and experience the culture. Canalscarrying the water from the mountain streams cross through the old city. The people wash food, clothes, andtheir morning ablutions at the edge of these canals. We watched one man using large flat screens to rinse alarge pile of roots or rhizomes. The aroma soon told us he was washing rhizomes of Houttuynia cordata,which is cooked and served as a vegetable. We wandered among the street merchants and into the open-airmarkets, where everything imaginable was for sale.3

Our first day out was to the lower slopes of the Yulong Shan to an area called Gang Bo Ha. We traveledthrough a valley where there was low scrubby brush, looking like sagebrush, but was in fact mostly speciesRhododendron. Cream colored Salvia was blooming along the road. We climbed in elevation onto thefoothills of the mountains, where we left the bus and began to hike at about 9,400 feet. The hillside wascovered with Pinus densata, formerly known as Pinus tabuliformis var. densata. Below the pines we foundmany unusual herbaceous and small woody plants. Among numerous species we found specimens ofPaeonia delavayi, Codonopsis pinifolius, Codonopsis macrocalyx, Rodgersia henricii, Pleioneyunnanensis, Aconitum hookeri, Drococephalum tanguticum, Delphinium beesianum, Parnassia sp.,Saxifraga sp., Silene delavayi, Cyananthus longiflorus, Anemone demissa, and many other species. Wehiked slowly up a steep hill through thick brush looking for unusual foliage, flowers, and seeds. I found aparticularly nice blue form of Juniperus squamata with black fleshy cones growing on the slope. Wecrested a hilltop and entered a long narrow valley, with forests on the opposite slopes. The valley bottom,which was well over 10,000 feet in elevation, was covered with grasses, low shrubs, and some herbaceousplant material. Among the woody plants we found Cotoneaster microphylla, Viburnum coreaceum, Sibereaangustata, Quercus aquifolioides, Quercus panossa, Rosa sp., Salix crenata, and several species ofRhododendron. The trees on the slopes included Abies georgei, Larix potaninii, and Picea likiangensis.These were growing in a mixed forest with several broadleaf species. I found cones on the Picea. Mixedwith the conifers were numerous species of broadleaf trees. Among those that I recognized were Acerforrrestii and Cornus macrophylla. On the ground below the trees we found Paris polyphylla var.Yunnanense, Saussarea semilyrata, Saussarea uliginosa, Androsace crenata, Cypripedium flavum (andother species), Arisaema consanguineum, Sedum sp., and Pedicularis sp. A very low shrub that caught ourattention was Vaccinium delavayi. Also a very low creeping Salix sp. with red stems was growing amongthe grasses on the valley floor.We had lunch sitting on rocks beneath a group of the three conifers. Several people later found they hadleach bites on their legs, which they did not know had occurred until they saw the blood on their socks. Iwas able to avoid any leach bites, because I had been forewarned, and told to purchase and wear women’spanty hose. Everyone laughed at my panty hose drying each night in my bathroom, but then I did not sufferfrom leach bites.The rain came down steady and without ceasing the day we went to Bei Shui. Because of the gain in altitudeit was also cold. The road was muddy and deeply rutted, and in poor condition, so we left the bus andtraveled by foot to get to a special location our hosts were leading us to. There we found Primula poissoniigrowing in profusion, some in flower, and many seed capsules full of seed. It was a wet site with a seepingspring. Primula bulleyana was also growing there. It is a very common plant in open fields at the higherelevations throughout northwest Yunnan. We found an Arisaema species with only the red fruit apparent,which we collected. There were several interesting shrubs at the site including: Celastrus hypoleucus,Dipelta yunnanense, Quercus panossa, Sarcococca hookeriana, Smilax menispermoides, and Viburnumbetulafolia. Along the river edge we found Daphne aurantiaca.On the return trip to Lijiang we stopped at a Buddhist temple and monastery, called Yu Feng. It is knownfor the 450 year old Camellia with 10,000 blossoms that the monks kept alive during the cultural revolutionby carrying water to it in their teacups. They would have been executed if they were caught, and we weretold that some were. We wandered around the grounds and took photographs outside the buildings. Ourguide Sun was collecting seed from a certain Michellia yunnanense, which he seemed to think had merit.We also found Cupressus duclouxiana on the monastery grounds. It had some ripe cones on its lowerbranches, which found their way into my pocket. Some seedlings germinated soon after I sowed them inNovember. The buildings were very ornate, and the entire compound was a very peaceful place. We tookour group pictures there.After dinner in Lijiang we went to a concert hall and listened to music presented by an orchestra withantique instruments. The musicians were mostly old men, some in their nineties, playing traditional Naxitunes. There were a few younger people who are learning the old traditional music from these masters. Theorchestra has toured and played in major cities all over the world. We also wandered through the narrowstreets of Dayan and visited many shops. Antique appearing art and crafts were available throughout thetown. We also found a billiard hall and outdoor roller skating arena near our hotel.4

The day we traveled from Lijiang to Zhongdian was a sunny day. It seemed the sun only shone on ourtravel days, and it rained on our hiking days. On a high mountaintop we looked down to the Jinsha branchof the Yangtze River, to which we would descend and cross. This is the upper reaches of this mighty river,which flows to the east some 1200 plus miles to the Pacific Ocean. The river is muddy brown from all theerosion that occurs and the rains. The mountaintops across the river valley were enshrouded in misty clouds,with the pine trees silhouetted against the clouds, as often depicted in Chinese paintings. When wedescended to the river, at about 7,000 feet elevation, the temperature was warm and the vegetation indicatedthat it does not freeze here. At the overlook we found some interesting plants, including: Vacciniumfargella, Codonopsis pinifolius, Indigofera pendula, Campylotropis hirtella, Campylotropis polyantha,Crotolaria albida, Pyracantha angustifolia, Cotoneaster franchettii, Discorea collettii, Viburnumcylindricum, and a saprophytic orchid. When we reached the Yangtze River we stopped at the entrance toTiger Leaping Gorge (Hu Tiao). The clouds obscured our view up the gorge and the vertical peaks of theJade Dragon Mountains. We were told that this is a spectacular view on a clear day. On a nearby damp rockwall we found the gesneriad, Corallidiscus bulatus, growing in large colonies with sprays of seed archingoutward. I now have a collected plant growing in my warm greenhouse. It seems to like it warm and moist.The road turned north leaving the Yangtze River and followed one of its tributaries, a roaring mountainstream. Hydroelectric plants and dams were being constructed at various places along the river. I assumethese are in relation to the famous Three Gorges Dam being constructed on the Yangtze River severalhundred miles downstream. It is the largest hydroelectric project ever built by mankind, and will have adevastating effect on the environment, as well will disrupt the lives of millions of people. The lake behindthe dam will be over 300 miles in length. With all the silt that is carried in this great river some authoritiespredict that the lake will fill in a few short years. We noticed several forms of Impatiens sp. growing alongthe roadside as we traveled along the stream. We saw Clematis tangutica in flower and vining over rocksnear the water. At one stop Sue and Kelley climbed high up a slope, and they found a very unusual fir treewith very long bright green needles. Professor Wang identified it as Abies ernestii, a name that does notappear in western conifer literature. It looked very similar to a plant I have in my collection at home, Abiesspectabilis, which is known to be from the western Himalayan Mountains. We were east of thosemountains. After I returned home I looked up the name Abies ernestii in several books. Finally I found thatKeith Rushforth in his book, Conifers, refers to Abies recurvata var. ernestii. His description seems to fitthe tree we found, and he states that the tree is found in western Sichuan province. As a matter of fact wewere not very far from the border of Yunnan and Sichuan, the western border of the latter. I assume this isthe true name of the tree we found. We did not find any cones ready to release seed. However, Sun said hewould return here and collect some seed for us at another time. At another stop we collected seed of Tilliapanicostata, which was growing along side the road. We also found ripe seed of Paris polyphylla var.Yunnanense there.The road climbed up to the Zhongdian Plateau at about 10,500 feet in elevation. In a wet meadow with yaksand pigs grazing we found our first fall blooming Gentian. Gentiana sino-ornata has beautiful bluetrumpets above pads of green foliage. It seems to grow on tiny hummocks of organic matter on a very wetsite. We also found the brilliant starfish-like rosettes of Saussarea stella nestled into the soggy turf. In oakbrush nearby we found another Gentian. Gentiana atuntsiensis was tall and narrow with spires of closeddeep blue flowers. Stalks of Iris bulleyana were standing erect in the wet field, with seedpods. The mostamazing sight was the brilliant red Euphorbia nematocypha and other euphorbias growing thicklythroughout the plateau. The open meadows and slopes were glowing red. The red foliaged Euphorbia sp.became a common sight in the damp mountain valleys throughout northwest Yunnan. Also Iris bulleyanaand Primula bulleyana were found to be growing in all the damp sites, and seed was abundant. In a dryarea of the plateau we found gray cushions of Thermopsis barbata, which is known for the chocolate brownpea flowers in the spring. Looking under the soft downy mounds we found pea pods loaded with seed. In astreamside canyon we hiked a short distance and found several interesting plants. The brush along thestream was thick, thorny and loaded with orange fruit. It was Hippophae rhamnoides, commonly known asSea Buckthorn. Growing in the brush we found the vines of a Corydalis sp. On the ground we found smalltufts of grass-like foliage with seedpods emerging at the base on the soil. This plant turned out to be Irisruthenica. When we opened the seedpods we found that the seed had already germinated inside the pod.Vines of a species of Clematis also climbed through the brush. A Thalictrum sp. was also growing amongthe brush near the stream.5

We had passed through several guarded military posts after we crossed the Yangtze River and had entered anew region, only recently opened to westerners. Once we had entered the Zhongdian Plateau we were in thearea inhabited by Tibetan peoples. Along the road we saw numerous Buddhist monuments, and poles withtattered and faded prayer flags erected among piles of stones. The farm homes were quite large and veryornate, with carved windows and doors, uplifted gable ends and tile roofs. The houses were much largerthan those we had seen previously in Yunnan. In the fields were large pole racks with stalks of barley dryingin the open air. Some racks had tops of turnips drying. Potatoes seemed to be the other staple that wasgrown in the fields. The fall harvest was well underway. We were told that rice is a rather new food item.The people of this area have always used barley as their primary food. The people seemed taller and theyhad different facial features. They were very friendly people. As we entered the city of Zhongdian a largebillboard welcomed us to “Shangri-La”. The city had recently been modernized with paved streets, modernstreet lighting, and even a traffic signal. New multi-story buildings had recently been built along the mainstreet among the older storefronts. Flags and banners flew everywhere. It seemed very festive. A largemonument had been erected in the center of the main intersection around which traffic flowed. The newbuildings housed commercial banks, a department store complete with an escalator, and hotels. We weretold that a new international airport is being built. The Chinese government seemed to be putting a lot ofmoney into this area, near the border of Tibet. In fact this region had at one time been part of old Tibet. Thepeople and the culture are Tibetan.We were housed in an older hotel, with plenty of fresh air. Even when it was cold outside, the doors andwindows in the common areas were left open. It was quite drafty. Some people found the rooms cold aswell. The water in the bathroom was very cold. Luke warm water flowed from the showerhead only duringthe evening hours. You would be lucky if it did not occur while we were at dinner. Power outages werefrequent, so we all had candles ready, so we could clean and package our daily collections of seed duringthe evening hours. Each day upon returning from the field we would clean the seed and dry it on papertowels set out on every inch of space available in our rooms. It was imperative that we completed this taskeach day so we could pack up to move on when necessary. We knew that only seed clean of chaff anddebris would be allowed back into the USA. Some evenings we worked until well after midnight. The hotelstaff was very young, and quite noisy in the hallways. However, our companion Ted, who had learned somebasic Chinese language skills, spent many hours entertaining the young women, and us. Ted being fromCanada ended most all his English phrases with the Canadian term: “Eh?”. His favorite phrase was“What’cha gonna do, eh?”, which soon became our group slogan. I am sure our Chinese hosts thought wewere all crazy as we all used the slogan regularly to comment on our living conditions and other situationsas well.When we arose the first morning in Zhongdian everything was white with new fallen snow, and we wereabout to head out into the field to collect plant seed. During our stay in Zhongdian we went out each day inthe field to different locations to collect seed from the local flora. Zhongdian sits at about 10,500 feet, andall our outings were into the surrounding mountains above the plain. Our first outing, on a cold snowy daywas to Bhita Hai, a park or reservation in the nearby mountains. At a stop on the way to Bhita Hai we founda pine-covered hillside where the underbrush was composed of low and dense mounds of Daphnecauticola. This diminutive woody plant has yellow flowers. Only a very few flowers were apparent in thispopulation. However, there was seed, if you could see it. The seeds were tiny, black, sparing, and hiddenbehind the leaves. Some people found a few. I hunted intensely and only found a couple of seeds. Oneperson collected the soil and debris below the plant, and found seeds there. This Daphne would be a fineplant for the rock garden. A very attractive pink form of Pedicularis sp. was growing in association with theDaphne. Allium beesianum with nodding umbels of blue flowers was also growing in the area. Bhita Hai isa lake in a natural preserve or park. The trail to Bhita Hai is through a narrow ravine, with a creek flowingthrough it. The steep hillsides were covered with spruce and pine, as well numerous deciduous broadleaftrees. Rosa sericea var. pteracantha with its red transparent winged thorns was abundant on the hillside,with ripe hips full of seed. The seed of the native Lilac (Syringa yunnanensis) was still green and not readyto be harvested. The herbaceous plants we found were diverse and different from our previous sites. Wefound Podophylla hexandra with large bright red puffy fruit hanging below the leaves growing adjacent tothe stream on wet silt. Other plants we found were Mandegora caulescens, Triosteum himalayanum,Megacodon stylophorum, Polygonatum sibericum, Panax major, Primula sikkimensis, and Primulasecundiflora. It was very wet there, and the wet snow or cold rain continued to fall the entire day. We were6

thoroughly soaked by the end of the day, only to look forward to cold showers in a cold room. We allagreed with Ted when he said, “What’cha gonna do, Eh?”.Since it was still raining hard we decided to rest for a day in and around Zhongdian. We had our typicalbreakfast of spicy noodles with Yak meat, fried eggs with tomatoes and peppers, tea (chai), and sweet cake.Our hosts placed large jars of Nescafe Instant Coffee and Cremora on the table each morning, with athermos of hot water. A short distance north of the city on a hilltop was a Buddhist monastery, SongZhanlin Shi (Pine Forest Monastery). The elevation there was about 11,000 feet. It is a large imposingrectangular structure covering most of the entire hilltop. There is a community of people in housessurrounding the monastery. We were told that these are the families of the monks who reside in themonastery. The monastery was originally built in 1679, and destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It hassince been rebuilt. Some of the original walls could be seen on the grounds of the monastery. The buildingsbeing used today seemed quite old, but one never knows in China as to what is old and not. We entered themonastery grounds through a very ornate gate painted with large colorful murals depicting the way toperfection. Children from the surrounding community were playing at the gate, and eagerly posed for ourphotographs. The Tibetan people are very friendly and would try to use their attempts at English languageto make us feel welcome, especially the children. On the streets of the city adults would often come up to usand try to engage us in conversation to show they could speak our language. “Hello” was called to us whereever we went in this part of Yunnan. After we entered the gate we were confronted with a steep set of stepsthat rose to the monastery proper on the hilltop. There were at least 200 steps to climb in the rain. The mainbuilding is large and composed of many rooms, and one large ornate hall. We climbed up through thestairways of the building to small chambers on the upper level. In one room, behind a batik cloth we found avery old monk who was apparently counseling a supplicant. We felt that we were invading private space,but our hosts urged us onward and the monk smiled and welcomed us to come in. On the rooftop we foundtwo young monks in their brick red robes of coarse cloth, and leather sandals, in a covered cupola. Onemonk had brought tea and food to the other whom was sitting in the structure, and striking a large metaldrum with a club. The loud clang from the instrument echoed out over the community and the valley below.In a doorway in the main building we looked onto a large metal Buddha being constructed. It was about 40feet in height, without a head. From the upper level we wandered into a balcony that was part of the greathall. It was dimly lit, and painted mainly in red. Large red pillars rose from the floor and supported the roof.We peered over a railing down into the hall below where rows of low benches covered with oriental carpetsand soft cushions. We could hear a group of monks behind one of the large red support pillars chant theirmantra. The room seemed warm and I felt it was truly a sacred place. Around the room were numerousglass-encased shrines with gilded statues of the Buddhist deities. Oil filled shallow ceramic bowls lined theshelves and tabletops in front of the shrines. Lighted candles flickered throughout the room. Boxes fordeposits of coins were set up in front of each shrine. Dry flowers, barley sheaves, and many pieces of clothwith writing on them were around and attached to each shrine. We descended the stairs and stood in adarkened corner of the room so we could better see the monks and take in the atmosphere. A young monksat on an elevated platform, with the other monks surrounding him. They seemed oblivious of our presenceas they continued their chant. We had silently moved into the rows of low benches and sat on the softcushions. At a break in their chant the young monk who seemed to be the leader, motioned for us to comeforward and join them. A young boy in the same robes entered the room with a tray with food on it. A largebowl held a toasted barley dough, and a small plate had goat cheese chunks on it. Cups of yak butter tea(Ghee) were poured from an ewer. The lead monk took a handful of the white dough and kneaded it in hishands for some time, and the dough turned brown while all the monks continued to chant. After a while heoffered bits of the dough to each of the other monks, and then to us also. To be polite we all took some ofthe dough and ate it. It seemed like raw bread dough. The cheese was bland. The yak butter is like rancidand salty curd in warm water. It is the usual beverage consumed by the local populace. The monkscontinued their chant, and a supplicant came in and prostrated himself on the carpet in front of them. Thetone and rhythm changed, and they were obviously praying in response to his supplication. We decided tomove on at that point. We left the main building and re-entered another building that also held shrinesbehind glass. Our hosts pointed out a display for the young Dalai Llama that has been approved and set upby the officials from Beijing. However in another corner of the room was another display with a photographof another child who they said was the real future Llama. Also a display with a photograph of the DalaiLlama that we know from the press was also there, with many ribbons adorning it. On one side of the rooma monk in his rough spun tunic was prostrated before a shrine with a golden female deity, perhaps KwanYen, the Goddess of Mercy. His arms and hands were outstretched before him on the hard stone floor, and7

he was face down. He then brought himself to a vertical standing position and then returned to the prostrateposition. His knees and torso were on a mat. He was reciting a mantra as he repeatedly stood and thenprostrated himself before the shrine. His hands would slide into leather sandals with each prostration, whichhe would leave beside the mat when he rose to the standing position. He never took any notice of ourpresence. Like the other monks his head was shaved with only a stubble of growth showing. The floor infront of the mat was worn with two parallel grooves where the sandals and hands of countless monks hadprostrated themselves over the years, and possibly centuries. Across the room below the lone window sat avery young boy. He was on a small platform with a scroll open before him on a tilted table. He was recitingwhat ever was on the scroll, as though it was a lesson. His recitations were sung like a chant. He would turnto look at us, and them immediately return to his lesson. I am sure we were a distraction to him. This roomlike the others was decorated with very colorful murals. Many animal forms were depicted in the murals,along with people and deities. The pathway to enlightenment seemed to be a common theme in all themurals. There was so much to see and so little time. I truly felt I had been in a very sacred place. Howeverour Chinese hosts from Kunming were bemused by the place and acted as tourists to be entertained. Theydid not seem to recognize the spiritual quality of the place, and one person even mocked the religioustraditions. I had to remind myself that these people had lived their lives in a communist state, devoid ofreligion and spiritual devotion. Before leaving the monastery we went to a shelter where a large threepersonprayer wheel was housed. We took turns, in-groups of three and spun the wheel, which caused bellsto ring, and a loud gong to sound. In another nearby building we could hear people pounding on metal. Itseemed to be a workshop, and we assumed they were working on the metal for the tall Buddha sculpturebeing constructed in the main building.Each day we would have breakfast and again dinner in a different restaurant in Zhongdian. We had adiverse assortment of foods offered to us throughout our trip. We ate well, but we were not always sure asto what we were eating. Everything was cooked fresh and served in platters and bowls hot from the kitchen.The food was generally quite spicy, as they use many red peppers, garlic, ginger, and other condimentsliberally in their recipes. We had fish, chicken, and pork dishes at every meal, and often yak meat. Beyondthat we did not ask. We found that we were served plants that some times we were hunting for in the wild,like Lilium davidi bulbs. Steamed Amorphophallus sp. greens were quite slimy, and not very pleasant. Wethought that we had been served greens of spinach or kale, which turned out to be Convolvulus sp.(Morning Glory). Most every meal was accompanied with plates of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and redpeppers mixed in. Fried goat cheese was also served regularly. We found we all enjoyed the noodle dishesthat were served in the mornings. Sweet cake cut in squares was also common fare. At one restaurant inKunming a large fish was brought to us on a platter, that had been gutted and cleaned, but was still alivewith its mouth gaping open and the gills moving. It was to show us how fresh the fish is, before it is cooked.Some times we cooked the food ourselves with a hot pot in the center of the table. We carried processednutrition bars, and dried fruit from home in our packs. Our hosts had oranges, bananas, bread, cookedsausages in wrappers, and other portable foods for us during the day trips. We only drank bottled water thatthey provided, which we took to our rooms each evening. One evening at the end of dinner Sun brought outa decorated cake, so we could all celebrate Kelly’s birthday. As we cut the cake we realized that there werechildren in the restaurant, so we also served them. As we did so they multiplied, as word of the celebrationspread into the community. They were all delighted, and we enjoyed seeing the joy expressed on their faces.Tianchi Lake, also known as Heavenly Lake, was our goal one particular day. It is in the mountains at about12,500 feet near to Zhongdian. The route there was via a very rough logging road that was cut out from asteep mountainside, with a deep canyon below. The road was so narrow that at times looking out the buswindow one could not see the ground at the edge of the road, but only a thousand or more feet of openspace into the gorge below. Of course there were no guardrails, and plenty of potholes and washed outportions of road. We had hired another bus and driver in Zhongdian for this specific journey, because of thedifficult terrain. Our Tibetan driver must have been at least 16 years old. He had another young companionwith him. As we left Zhongdian on the paved highway he commented that there seemed to be somethingwrong with the steering. He and our hosts discussed the matter at length, and even stopped the bus andclimbed underneath to investigate the problem. They decided to continue, and hoped all would be well. Weleft the highway and started to climb into the mountains. The road forked numerous times with out anydirectional signs pointing the way to Tianchi Lake. As luck would have it we had taken a wrong fork and wewere on the wrong narrow road. The area had been harvested of all of the timber and replanted with twospecies that were now about 8 feet high. The trees were Picea likiangensis and Larix sp. We had8

commented on the blue color of the spruce. Many specimens were as blue as any Colorado Blue Spruce. Iwas ready to get out of the bus and look for the unusual specimens. The Larix sp. was golden yellow. I donot think these were Larix potaninii as others we saw on our trip at similar elevations were still green.When it became apparent that we had taken the wrong road, our driver turned the bus around on this verynarrow road, with the back part of the bus hanging out over open space as he maneuvered around. About100 yards back down the road we came to an abrupt halt, and he and our hosts all spoke at once. He wasturning the steering wheel, but the bus was not responding. They got out and again climbed underneath it.The tie rods to the steering mechanism had broken. We all departed the bus and began to scour the hillsidefor unusual plants. Sun said they would get it fixed, and we should not wander far away. He had a whistle tocall us back. We all assumed that we had all day, and that we would probably hike back to town. DianaReeck soon called to me to come look at small spruce tree she had found. It was about three feet tall, andwas variegated throughout all its branches. It was a variegated form of Picea likiangensis, with a lightcreamy white variegation on most all the needles throughout the plant. We all wanted to take cuttings, butknew that we could not legally bring them back into the USA. All we could do was to take photographs ofthe plant. It would be a horticultural win if we could introduce it to cultivation. Within about 45 minutessince we had departed the bus we heard Sun’s whistle. With baling wire or twine they had repaired thesteering mechanism. We retraced our steps, found the correct road and proceeded to Tianchi Lake. Theforests surrounding the lake had been decimated by an insect infestation, and so the mountains were clothedin dead trees. Patches of snow were on the ground, but they were continuing to melt away. We had beentold that this was a treasure house of rare and unusual plants, and was a very popular place for plantcollectors. In fact another busload of European and American plant collectors, sponsored by the AlpineGarden Society were also there. These people were also staying in the same hotel in Zhongdian. We hadsimilar itineraries. Hiking down the slope from the road we walked on and through knee highRhododendron sp. with a few violet-purple flowers. Rhododendron racemosum was reported to beabundant here, but then there were several small species reported to be present here. Near the shore of thelake we found the ground soggy and we walked on small hummocks of grass and other herbaceous plants.Most all the hummocks were in bloom with forms of Gentiana sino-ornata, with blue trumpets. In someareas the ground was covered with blue trumpets. Among the Gentians we also found yellow Calthapalustris var. chinensis was also flowering. We followed a trail around the south side of the lake and into adense forest of Abies georgei with an understory of Rhododendron sp. that were about 15 feet in height.Ted Herrington was looking for Rhododendron wardii, which was, suppose to be growing here. We did finda few blossoms to help identify the species. Also growing in the woods we found Arisaema elephas (infruit), Primula amethystina(in flower), Primula sonchifolia (a large rosette with a large flower bud nestledin the rosette), Primula sino-purpurea, a sky-blue form of Gentiana atuntsiensis, and saprophytic orchids.The trees and shrubs are covered with moss or lichens, and Rhododendron seedlings are growing on themossy fallen logs. We emerged from the forest onto a hillside with a rocky outcrop. On the north face of alarge rock I found tiny silver cushions of what appeared to be a Saxifraga sp. They were diminutive moundsabout the size of a half-dollar, with numerous silver rosettes. Small dark brown seed capsules wereadpressed to the mound. I pinched off a few pieces that I have since rooted at home. I hope it will flower soI can identify the species. At the base of the rock were rosettes of a purple Saussarea sp. and otherherbaceous plants of interest. A tiny willow (Salix sp.) clung to another rock. Sue Miliken and Kelly Dotsoncame up with blue Corydalis pachycentra that they had found. There were many wonderful alpine plants tobe found in this site. Other plants that we found at Tianchi Lake included Rheum alexandrae, Mandragoracaulescens, Cassiope pectinata, Lilium souliei, and Cremanthodium helianthoides. The return trip down themountainside with the broken tie rods was very slow. Near the bottom of the mountains we stopped tocollect seeds of Nomocharis aperta. We were glad to return to Zhongdian safely, without further incident.Zhongdian was quite festive, as it was October 1, a national holiday in China. Fireworks were being set off,and music could be heard. Young people were out on the street late into the night. We found a young fluteplayer on one corner with a crowd that was dancing and clapping. They invited us to join in theircelebration. We watched television broadcasts of staged celebrations in Hong Kong and Beijing. HongKong was far more spectacular, and the people seemed to be having much more fun. The celebration thereculminated with a fantastic fireworks display. In Beijing the old communist leaders were sitting verysomber faced at their desks in the Great Hall, watching a stage performance. They did not even smile, andapplauded on cue. The broadcast from Hong Kong was very modern and seemed to be patterned afterwestern broadcasting. It had only been three months since Hong Kong had been handed over to Chineseauthority from the British.9

We traveled a short distance by unpaved, pot-holed road from Zhongdian to a canyon in the westernmountains. The canyon was called Xian Ren Dong, or the Fairy Caves. It was one of our few nice sunnydays that we had out in the field. The dry plain leading up to the mountains and canyon were covered with alow scrub of Quercus and Rhododendron. Grazing Yak were meandering throughout the brush, Some hadcolorful ornaments attached to their ears or long hair. In the canyon we hiked up a path following acascading stream. The brush along the stream was composed of several species. There were several speciesof Roses, most all loaded with orange hips. One very small Rosa sp. was colorful with fall foliage, and haddiminutive leaves. The Rosa sericea var. pteracantha with its transparent thorns was very attractive.Growing in the brush we found the vine, Schisandra rubrifolia. We found Betula calcicola a small shrubform of Birch growing, and collected seed from it. Other shrubs and small trees that we identified andcollected seed from, included Euonymus sp., Syringa yunnanense, and Acer forrestii. On rocky islands inthe center of the rushing stream we found Aquilegia sp. with seed bearing capsules, and Ligularia sp. Largebright pink patches of Pedicularis sp. flourished along the streamside. On the north-facing steep canyonwall we found Impatien delavayi and Impatien yunnanense, both with orchid-pink and white flowers.Clematis sp. climbed through the brush. On our return trip to Zhongdian we stopped out on the flat plainbelow the mountains to look for plants in a dryland setting. The Rhododendron and Quercus brush seemedvery much like Sagebrush in our dry western mountains. On the ground between the mounds of brush wefound pads of the bright blue Gentiana vietchiorum with numerous deep blue trumpets. Also a small lightblue Giantella sp. was in bloom there.We were on our knees taking our turns photographing the pads of Gentians, when someone pointed out asnake slithering through the nearby brush. It was a deadly viper. It went under our bus which was parkednearby, and we all assumed it had slithered on out into the brush on the other side of the road. However, ourChinese hosts, who seemed terrified about its presence, were convinced that it had climbed up onto theundercarriage of the bus. They would not let us back onto the bus, until they were sure it was safe. Withmuch trepidation, Zhong, our official driver, got on board and started the engine. He then drove the busabout 100 yards up the very rough road and slammed to a halt. The other people then went out onto the roadto inspect for the snake, which was not to be seen. Zhong then put the bus in reverse and the scene wasrepeated, with the bus passing us by traveling backward. After several repeated passings of the bus andsubsequent searching of the road for the non-existent snake we were allowed to re-board the bus. The roadback into town was very rutted and rough and was not a comfortable ride for any of us. Our Chinese hostsall talked excitedly on the way . At one point someone touched young Mr. Li’s ankle with a stick and heyelled and jumped with fear. We all had a good laugh at his expense. We returned to Zhongdian and parkedthe bus on flat pavement at the hotel, and unloaded our gear. We then noticed that the snake was also thereon the pavement slithering out from under the bus. Evidently, it had wrapped itself around the axle andstayed there until the bus stopped moving. The local police were summoned, and they dispatched the deadlyserpent with haste. That evening we passed by a guard stand and there coiled up in a jar, being pickled wasour hitchhiker, waiting to be served at the next celebration. Mariah said that she had seen another viper aprevious day out on the Zhongdian Plateau.On another sunny day we traveled to the Little Snow Mountains, Xiao Xue Shan. On the way there westopped at a wet meadow and found many unusual forms of Gentiana sino-ornata. Some of them were paleblue or almost pure white. Some had vertical green or blue lines in the trumpets. Gentianella sp. andGentianopsis grandis, were growing there too. The purple starfish-like flat rosettes of Saussarea stellaadded to the exotic flora. At another stop on a dry mountainside we found Thermopsis smithii, andAndrosace rigida. We stopped for lunch beside a stream. Clematis tangutica tumbled its vine-like foliage,with nodding yellow flowers, over the steep bank down to the stream. In a damp area under a canopy oftrees we found several clumps of Arisaema consanguineum, with stalks bearing large red fruit. Paeoniadelavayi grew in the sunny sites and were loaded with seedpods. A young farmer and his wife and sonscame down the road on foot, sat down among us and shared our lunch. They had some sunflower heads fullof seeds, and they shared them with us. They seemed to enjoy our sausages, sweet cake and oranges. Theydid not speak Mandarin Chinese, and our hosts did not understand their dialect, but we all spoke with smilesand nods, and sharing of a meal. They waved and bid us farewell as we re-boarded our bus and continuedour journey.10

The gravel and mud road climbed up a steep mountainside to the pass at 12,500 feet where we could lookover a broad valley to the Big Snowy Mountains in the distance. We stopped there and looked for newplants. The forests were mostly gone, as they had been harvested for lumber. A few trees could be found ona north-facing slope, mixed with tree-sized Rhododendron sp. Ted Herrington identified Rhododendronbeesianum. Diana Ballentyne found a fir tree, Abies georgei with a branch bearing variegated needles. Apile of stones with tattered Tibetan prayer flags was erected at the top of a hill above the road. I climbed upto the monument, and on over into an alpine meadow with a rushing stream. There were several low cabinsthat had been erected by herders who summer range their sheep, goats and yaks up here. The cabins wereuninhabited now. Thousands of Primula sp .seedpods borne on tall stalks grew on the wet areas, along thestream. I was sure that most were Primula bulleyana, but it appeared that there were other species too. Atthe base of a hill where a spring emerged I found a large clump of Podophyllum hexandra, with seven redapple-like fruit hanging below the large palmate leaves. Our trip to Little Snow Mountain had been on oneof our few dry days.We left Zhongdian and traveled north with the intention of collecting and photographing plants in theBeima Shan, a high ridge of mountains that separate the Yangtze River watershed from the Mekong Riverwatershed and then traveling on to Dechen, a village near the border of Tibet. A few miles north ofZhongdian we stopped at an abandoned rock quarry, above Napa Hai (Lake). In the flats of Napa Hai wehad witnessed a long convoy of yoked yaks in pair pulling large logs in the shallow waters. Men were ridingon the logs, and were holding onto reins attached to the yaks. In the quarry we found seed stalks ofMeconopsis prattii, and Incarvillea zhongdianensis, formerly known as form of Incarvillea mairei. We alsofound a rosette cushion of Gentians with numerous closed pinkish flowers. A dwarf form of Delphinium sp.with deep purple flowers was also growing in the rock scree as well as several other interesting plants. On agrassy slope nearby we found an Aster sp. with very narrow purple ray flowers and the typical yellowcenter. They were almost thread-like. We found Malus sikkimensis and Crataegus totaiensis growing on theslope, both of which bore fruit. In a seep with horses and yaks grazing we found Primula bulleyana andPrimula secundiflora blooming and in seed. The purple Gentianopsis grandis was growing throughout ameadow below the Tibetan barley drying racks. Along a stream we found an abundance of Podophyllumhexandrum, many red fruit. A bright yellow Pedicularis sp. grew there too. On a dry hillside above aroaring stream we found Paeonia delavayi growing. Pinus armandii were overhead, with large green conesin the branches. Across the canyon we could see a species of Tsuga, but they were too far away to identify.Most likely they were Tsuga dumosa.Further up the road we stopped and wandered in a forest of Pinus densata. The underbrush includedCorylopsis sp. I came across a grove of dwarfed pines, with fasciations in the branches and buds. Some ofthe branches had developed into large cockscombs of with densely packed needles. There were about 20trees in this grove, none more than 6 feet in height. I searched for fresh cones with seed but could only findold ones with the seed dispersed. I also looked for a larger “Mother” tree, but could not identify it. Therepeated dwarfing and fasciations in all these trees indicated that there was some genetic aberration wasoccurring here. We stopped for lunch above the village of Nixi. We noticed the local people were cuttingthe Oak brush on the hillside, tying it into bundles, and carrying the bundles down the hill on their backs, orin tractor pulled wagons, or horse drawn carts. We were told the brush was used for fuel. Children whowere with the workers played “hide and seek” with us. They were quite shy, but the parents would havethem stand for our cameras. We gave them cake, and they were overjoyed. On the slope among the brushwe found Daphne calcicola with a spattering of yellow flowers. I still could not find any seed. The brightred flowers of Androsace bulleyana were very apparent on the rocky ground, with the soft gray rosettes offoliage. I found a patch of Corallidiscus bullatus growing on an exposed sunny rock ledge; a far differentsite than we had found it before.We crossed the Yangtze River once again, a much smaller river. We were getting closer to its source. Westopped at the confluence of the river with another, where one was muddy brown and the other clear. Wefound Incarvillea arguta growing there with pink flower covering the low cushions. We stopped at a spotwhere there was a grove of Cupressus duclouxiana. Sun said that he needed to obtain a sample of wood foran aromatic study that was being conducted at the Institute. He and young Mr. Li built a log bridge andcrossed over the roaring current, taking a machete with them. After a short while they reappeared at the sideof the stream with a 10-foot long log about 8 inches in diameter. This log then rode with us in the bus for11

the remainder of our trip. It resided in the central aisle, and we had to step over it getting in and out of ourseats.After a long and scenic journey we arrived in the town of Benzilan, which sits on a steep slope above themuddy Jinsha branch of the Yangtze River. The town is a double row of rectangular buildings facing eachother along the curving highway. The buildings were quite ornate, and large, with colorful designs paintedonto the stucco. The windows had ornate carved shutters or screens. The houses seemed quite large, andusually more than a single story. It seemed apparent that yaks, goats, pigs, and poultry resided in the groundlevel, and the people lived in the floors above. It was not unusual to see a young yak or goat with its headsticking out of the ornate doorway. The doors were painted with beautiful designs. The rooftops were flatand corn was spread out and drying up there. Large clusters of bright red chili peppers were hanging underthe eaves. On some rooftops women in colorful attire were shucking the corn. The town is stretched out wellover a mile in length along the highway, which is on a steep incline. Our hotel was near the top end of thetown. It was a building with three floors. The ground floor was a restaurant, kitchen, and a commissary. Theanimals to be served in the restaurant were tied or caged at the front steps. The chickens we were laterserved for dinner were killed and cleaned as we were gathering our baggage to take to our rooms. The hotelhad an interior courtyard with numerous potted plants. Young girls were laundering the linens there inwashtubs. My room was on the street side of the building with an outdoor walkway that one could lookdown over the town and the surrounding countryside. The door to my room was painted with a verybeautiful design of several colors. In the room were two single beds, enshrouded with gauze mosquitonetting, a small table, and a chair. A single light bulb hung from a high ceiling by its cord. A colorfulenamel basin sat on the floor. I was not sure as whether it was a chamber pot for night use, or to put waterinto to wash my face. I chose the latter. As in all hotels in Yunnan hot water was brought to the room in alarge thermos in the evening. The beds had satin bed coverings with floral designs embroidered onto them.A very thin mattress and a single linen sheet were all that was below the satin covers. Small satin coveredpillows with lace trimmings were propped up against the wall. To get to the latrine one had to go down thestairs, across the courtyard, step over a retaining wall and pass through a gate to a narrow footpath in analley behind the buildings. You knew which way to go by following your nose. Once you were in thevacinity of the latrine, you quit breathing for as long as possible. Using public lavatories in China is anexperience the western traveler may not be ready for. They are dimly lit rooms, with a slot in the floor.There is no place to sit and read, and with the stench you would not want to linger there anyway. It wasapparent that the lavatory was for use by people from more than just the hotel. A steep embankment ofnatural vegetation was immediately behind the hotel. Along the top of a retaining wall there were severalstills set up, with wood fires blazing under them. The hot water for our thermos jugs apparently was drawnfrom them.Across the street from the hotel was the local “watering hole”, which had a loud electronic sound system.Karoake is very popular in China. Wherever we stayed throughout our trip we could easily find placeswhere the local people try out their vocal skills, with volume turned up. Up and down the streets of all thecities and towns small cubicle shops were set up with the local young people gathered in small groupstaking their turns with the microphone. The electronic age had made an imprint on China, even into themost remote regions. Shops were offering to sell CD’s and Videotapes everywhere. Large speakers were setup in the doorways of shops, and music blared into the street, often competing with similar shops nearby.China seems to be very noisy. During the night lories passed by the hotel on the highway. Down the street ashort distance and over a fence some large swine were penned up, and not very happy about their fate, asthey snorted and bellowed throughout the night. The revelry at the “watering hole” continued well into thelate night hours, perhaps morning. They were cooking noodles in hot oil in large woks, and chopping(whatever) throughout the evening. The cooking odors in China and especially here in Benzilan werewonderful. During the night I heard the rain again falling, and knew our outing the next day would be wet.Benzilan sits in a narrow mountain valley with steep canyon walls above the river. From my room I couldsee large Tibetan houses on the mountainside across the river, with footpaths connecting them. There didnot seem to be any vehicular traffic on that side of the river. Those people would have to walk miles to thenearest river crossing, and also descend or ascend thousands of feet in elevation. The farm fieldssurrounding Benzilan were mostly planted with corn. Cannabis sativa was planted with the corn, and grownfor hemp. Seeds of the hemp plants were often available in the restaurants, usually in a small dish on a tablenear the door. Those who would partake placed the seed behind the lower lip. Also growing in the fields12

were melons, squash, and peppers. Benzilan is at a low elevation, and evidently frost free, as Eucalyptus sp.and Citrus were growing there, as well other temperate plants. Young children played in the street andfollowed us as we walked about the town. A short distance north of the town there was a Buddhist school orseminary. Many young men were seen walking in the town in crimson robes with golden yellow satin or silkhats. The people in Benzilan were very friendly and welcoming. Older persons who were tending the veryyoung would pose for our cameras, pushing the children forward for us to admire and photograph. A gangof young boys followed us everywhere, acting silly and posing for pictures. We gave them candy andtrinkets, and their silly antics increased, as well as their numbers. Along a steep hillside north of town wefound rosettes of Rhodiola sp. (Sedum) which was very attractive. There were also some very interestingferns there.In the morning we started to drive north on a very wet and muddy road. The rain and the heavy truck traffichad turned the road to ruts of deep mud. Zhong found it quite difficult to steer the bus, and it slid about onthe sharp curves. The road climbed in many switchbacks into the mountains above the river. We followedthe river for many miles, but continually climbed in elevation away from it. We were on the main highwaythrough northwest Yunnan. Later we found out this was the famous “Burma Road” of World War II. Acrossthe valley and following the edge of the river was another road, the highway to Sichuan. Driving in Yunnanis a real challenge, and we were all glad that Zhong was at the wheel. Driving there is very competitive,with each driver honking and then passing the others. We often passed other vehicles, especially the bluelories, when there did not seem to be room to accomplish the feat. Blind corners were not an obstacle, noroncoming traffic. Zhong would pull out on the narrow road into the facing traffic lane and procede, whilewe all held our breath. There were numerous times we all thought we were about to meet our ”Maker”. Aswe climbed high into the mountains we could see evidence of trucks that had fallen off the road and werehanging on the steep mountainside in ruins. The river was thousands of feet below us. At one stop on awindswept hillside we found mounds of Clematis delavayi var. limprichtii in full bloom with white flowers.We also found seed. At another stop next to a mountain stream I noticed that the spruce trees seemeddifferent, as the yellowish-green needles seemed to lay flat along the axis of the stems on arching branches.This turned out to be Picea brachytyla. I was able to collect some cones with seed in them. On a rockyisland in the middle of a cascading stream we found a small specimen of the rare Juniperus pingii with agraceful weeping habit. It stood about three feet tall, and the branches cascaded onto the rocks. We pointedit out to Sun, and he whipped out his secateurs and fell the plant in front of us. He said he needed it for hisaromatic wood studies. Fortunately we did get photos of the plant before he cut it off. At one point alongour mountain adventure we had to get out and help our hosts move rocks and debris off the roadway. Asmall landslide had occurred, and the boulders and mud were blocking our way. Part of the outside edge ofthe road had also fallen away into the chasm below. After moving the boulders we waited for Zhong tobring the bus to us on the other side of the slide. Herders with goats, yaks, ponies and mules also shared theroad with us. Some of the herders set up temporary shelters of poles and tarpaulins, and evergreen boughs,along the edge of the road.The lower slopes of our mountain climb were mainly covered with grass and low chaparral-type brush. Aswe climbed higher mixed forests of conifers and broadleaf trees seemed to appear. At the highest level thetrees were almost entirely coniferous. We were in the mountains known as the Beima Shan, approachingWhite Horse Snow Mountain. Our goal was to go over a pass at about 14,000 feet, and descend to the townof Dechen, on the Mekong River watershed, near the border of Tibet. The rain turned to snow at aboutthe12,000 foot level, and we continued to climb to 13,300 feet. The wet snow was several inches deep atthat point, and there was a multi-vehicle traffic jam ahead of us. Some autos and trucks had slid off the roadon a sharp curve and were stuck in the deep snow . Fortunately there was not a steep precipice below at thatpoint and nobody was in any danger. But the road was essentially blocked, so we all got out to investigatethe situation. Some of our Chinese hosts had never been in snow before and so we all began to cavort likechildren. Snowballs flew through the air and everyone had a good time. It was then that we found out thatZhong had never driven in snow before, and had not been prepared. We did not even have chains for thebus tires. We decided then and there that we had reached the high point of our trip. While there weinvestigated a slope where a shallow stream of water was flowing over a rocky scree. We found seed headsof Primula bulleyana, and Primula lutea. A few bright yellow flowers of Primula lutea were sticking out ofthe snow. There could have been many other species there also, but they were tucked away under a whiteblanket The coniferous trees we encountered were Larix potaninii var. macrophylla and Abies georgei var.smithii. However Prof. Yang called it var. simtsii, and showed us in his manual he carried that it was under13

that name. Abies georgei has until recently been listed as a subspecies of Abies delavayi. It all seems veryconfusing. The branches of both the Larch and the Fir were weighted down with the heavy wet snow. TheLarch had accessible cones that I collected. The few cones on the Fir were not reachable. LargeRhododendron sp. grew on the slope among the Larch and the Fir trees. Zhong turned the bus around andreturned to about the snow/rain line. From the bus window I spied some young Fir trees along the road thatwere loaded with large erect purple cones. They were almost within reach from the edge of the roadway. Ina flash of a second Sue Miliken had leaped through the air and was hanging in the top of a sapling Fir treeabout 15 feet above the ground. She then proceeded to pick the purple cones and hand them over to us. Wegathered a sack full of cones, which it turned out all were loaded with seed. At another stop a short distancebeyond we found two species of Mountain Ash. One was Sorbus paulescens with entire leaves with aserrated edge, and clusters of a rosy-orange fruit. The other had white berries, and pinnate leaves. It wasmost likely Sorbus rehderiana. There were other species also present. We also found several species ofMaple. Acer forrestii and Acer caudatum being two species we could identify. With the broad diversity oftrees and being October the fall colors were beginning to appear. We also found some herbaceous plants,such as Arisaema sp., Polygonatum sp., Iris sp., Primula dentata (in flower), Primula secundiflora, andMegocodon stylophorum. We again came across the handsome Fir tree with the large needles, Abiesernestii. Again there were no apparent cones. Wet and tired we sloshed our way back down the rutted andmuddy road we had climbed to another noisy night in Benzilan.The wet and cool weather had again thwarted our attempts to reach the high country. It had been a very wetsummer in a land that usually has much rain during the summer months. Their dry season normally is in thefall, when we had planned our trip. Trips made in previous years reported dry and sunny weather during thesame dates. We were not so lucky. And as luck would have it the day we turned south the weatherimproved. Together we all chanted our mantra, “What’cha gonna do, Eh?”. Our drive from Benzilan toZhongdian was without incident. The scenery was very beautiful, and we made several stops enroute toagain collect seed and photograph plants and people. We chose a beautiful and glorious sunny day to travelsouth from Zhongdian. At a high point on the Zhongdian Plateau we could see the snow covered Haba Shanto the south. The mountains surrounding the plateau were all covered in new snow. However the sun waswarm and we knew we were leaving too soon. During our long travel days Ted kept us well entertained withhis zany dialogue, that was almost unceasing. Our hosts had to get used to these 70’s era western kidssinging their “Golden Oldies” as we tooled down the road. As we approached Tiger Leaping Gorge on theYangtze River the famous Jade Dragon Mountains (Yulong Shan) appeared in regal majesty, cloaked in anew ermine-white mantle. The deep blue sky did not have a single cloud in it. The sight was magnificent. Iam sure each of us shot a full roll of film on this magnificent sight. Rather than returning to Lijiang we tookanother road that took us to the industrial city of Jian Chuan.In Jian Chuan we drove up a street lined with tall Eucalyptus trees and turned into a drive through an ornategate. Inside the gate were gardens and a fountain. We were arriving at the official guest house, a state runhotel. It is a beautiful old building with a curved drive and a drive through portico. The windows had carvedshutters. The floor of the entrance area was marble and very clean. The furniture was an ornate Chinesestyle, made of heavy wood and inlayed with Dali marble. There were embroidered satin cushions. We wereall awe struck over the beauty of the place. We were welcomed by a very efficient and proper younguniformed woman, who did not seem friendly, but who was doing her job. My room had a comfortable bedwith the embroidered satin spread. A large over-stuffed chair occupied one corner of the room. Thebathroom was damp and not a comfortable place. We were advised to wear sandals in the shower andbathroom areas, as the wet floors and fixtures did not seem very clean. The fixtures were old, leaky, stained,and loose. When Diana Ballentyne asked for some toilet paper, she was informed by the uniformedattendant that the three squares of thin paper in the cabinet was her allotment, and she would not get anymore. A high wall enclosed an old garden with potted plants, a carved stone table and benches, andmeandering pathways. Plants were potted in attractive clay vessels. A large planter held an attractivelimestone rock on which many ferns and other plants had been grown. The large rock was set in waterinside the planter. Many of the garden plants were subtropical, like Bougainvillea, Gardenia and Hibiscus.There were Palms, Bananas, and Bamboos in the garden also. Bonsai-like specimens of Pinus yunnanensiswere displayed in beautiful ceramic pots.Beer (Pijou) is served as a beverage at the mid-day and evening meals, along with tea (Chai). However ourdriver Zhong arrived each evening with a new bottle of grain alcohol, a Chinese “White Lightning”. He14

would set small glasses in front of each of us and fill them to the rim. We would all holler “Gam Bey”(something equivalent to “Bottoms Up”), and then down the clear liquid in a single swallow. We wouldcontinue this ritual until the bottle was empty. He sometimes would find another bottle and continue theritual. Dinners became interesting events, as we all became giddy. We (the seven westerners) would sit at alarge round table, and our hosts sat at another. They would order the food, which came to us in largeplatters or bowls. Each place setting would have a set of chopsticks, a glass, a small bowl, a small plate, anda sealed pack of paper tissues. Upon sitting down we would smash the sealed pack of tissues between ourpalms, and they would split with a pop, as the air trapped inside would burst out. We then took the tissuesand wiped down all the utensils and bowls and plates. They were usually still wet from being washed, andwho knows where or in what water source. One streetside restaurant we ate at did the dishes on the stepsabove the street gutter in an old washtub. Miraculously no one in our party got sick. Some folks did catchcolds soon after we arrived in Yunnan, which they shared liberally with everyone else. I was fortunate inthat I did not even catch the cold.After our evening meal in Jian Chuan we had a surprise celebration for Sun. He was going to leave us thenext day when we reached Dali, and fly home to Kunming. He had some urgent business to attend to at theKunming Botanical Institute, which had a deadline. He was replaced by another Botanist and field guide,Fey, for the last few days of our trip. We had talked young Mr. Li into acquiring a decorated sheet cake forus. We then had it brought to the table and set in front of Sun. He was very surprised and overjoyed. Wehad partaken liberally of the Chinese White Lightning, and so we were not feeling quite boisterous. Theother patrons in the restaurant all watched us in disbelief as we laughed and even sang. Since it was a ratherlarge cake we had extra plates brought to us and we served everyone in the restaurant. They all gladlyjoined in our celebration and the cold stares became warm smiles and greetings. Everyone in the hotel andrestaurant enjoyed our celebration.During our stay in Jian Chuan we visited the home of a local entrepreneur. He had the truck repair businessin the region. With as many broken down lories we had seen along the roads, he must have a very busyshop. His home was several blocks from our hotel, but we walked there to get a feel for the city and thepeople. Children soon gathered around us and accompanied us to our destination. They stood out in thestreet and peered through the gate the entire time we were there and then accompanied us back to the hotel.We met Mr. Yang Jianchan and his wife. They were very hospitable and invited us into their home. Weentered through a streetside gate into a long dark hallway that opened into a lovely courtyard. Many pottedplants were set about the courtyard. Some of the potted plants were actually trees. A quince tree bore fruitthe size of large grapefruit. Rex Begonias and Orchid plants were on the stoop, some of which were inbloom. A rectangular shallow pond on one side held fish and pond plants. The courtyard had several levelswith steps between. Mr. Yang’s home surrounded three sides of the courtyard. The dark hallway we hadpassed through was in a low single story house, that had been his first home, and now his mother lives there.On the other side of the courtyard we ascended steps to an open living room with comfortable furniture anda TV. This seemed to be their main living quarters and entertainment center. The room was nicely decoratedwith paintings and scrolls. There were two more floors of rooms above, which included the kitchen. Weclimbed up a zigzag staircase that was encased behind glass panels facing the courtyard. We came out ontothe roof of the building where Mr. Yang had constructed a shaded greenhouse. In it he raised CymbidiumOrchids in pots. There were thousands of plants on raised benches covering the entire roof. He had awatering system set up and somehow had solved the drainage problem. This was not the time of year for theOrchids to be in bloom, so only a few were. However it was an amazing sight. His hobby had become anenterprise and he sold his plants commercially. From the rooftop we could look out over the city to thesurrounding countryside, and even see the snow capped Yulong Shan and Haba Shan in the distance to thenorth. We retreated to the living quarters on the first floor, which was open to the courtyard, where Mrs.Yang served us tea and home made pastries and cakes. They were wonderful. I was fascinated by theircourtyard-potted gardens. One plant that caught my attention was a bonsai-ed Pinus yunnanensis thatappeared to be very old and contorted. I was told that it had been collected in the wild in that form. Mr.Yang chided our academic hosts about the fact that they could never have such a fine home because theyworked for the state, while he had ventured into the world of free enterprise. Sun said he could only dreamof having such a place, but knew it would never be. Capitalism at work in communist China.For the next two days of travel we had another man on the bus. He was never introduced to us and he andour hosts all conversed in Mandarin. He disappeared when we departed Dali to return to Kunming. On the15

way to Dali from Jian Chuan we left the highway and drove up a paved road into the mountains. We cameupon an elaborate painted gate as we entered a provincial park. Inside the park we continued to ascend themountain on a very narrow road, until we had reach the ridge top, at perhaps 9,000 feet. The mountainswere covered with an unusual form of Pinus yunnanensis that had twisted trunks and limbs. The trees grewat an angle rather than vertically. We looked across a mountain valley to a monastery that was attached tothe rock face of the opposing mountain. Between us and there was a chasm of several hundred feet, perhapsa thousand or more. We left the bus and followed a trail on the ridgetop opposite the monastery. Themonastery was a Ming Dynasty temple known as Shi Bao Shan or “Precious Rock Mountain”. It wascomposed of several ornate buildings that were built onto the very steep mountainside. The trail we were onwound through the pine forest. We found many very interesting plants growing there, including:Leontipodium sp., Aster sp., Allium sp. (nodding purple umbel), Codopsis sp, Pedicularis sp., Arisaema sp,2 Clematis sp., Camellia soulanensis, Cupressus duclouxiana, Begonia grandis, Primula sino-orbicalae,Gaultheria sp., Iphigenia indica, Paris polyphylla, and Vaccinium fargella. The trail eventually came outat a shrine that faced the Ming Temple. In the shrine was a plaque that told of an ancient king and hisfamily. From the shrine we descended the mountainside by way of thousands of steps cut into the rock face.We passed through narrow gaps in the wall and even a tunnel that had been cut. We eventually reached thestream in the valley bottom with weak knees, only to face an equivalent set of steps going up the other sideto the monastery. A rest was most welcome when we reached a viewing platform outside the gate to themonastery. The gate was painted with an intricate design, and was very ornate. Inside the gate we climbedstairs to a courtyard that was surrounded by the buildings. In the center of the courtyard was a large rockthat held statues, and seemed to be a shrine, perhaps “Precious Rock”. Potted plants were set about thecourtyard, including several bonsai-ed Pinus yunnanensis, in handsome clay pots. An old stone planter withshort legs caught my eye. It would be a wonderful trough garden. It had designs carved into the sides. APinus parviflora was growing in an egg jar. It had a large polished white stone imbedded in the trunk.Magnolia soulangeana (Chinese) and Magnolia grandiflora (American) were growing in the courtyard.They were relatively young trees. We were then given a guided tour of the entire facility. There were manyreligious scenes carved into the rock walls in the various buildings. We were not allowed to use our cameraswithin the walls of the monastery. The artwork was phenomenal. The carvings were ancient, and seemed tobe Buddhist. This was a state run facility and park. There were not any monks or other religious figures tobe seen anywhere. It did not have the spiritual quality that Song Zhanlin Shi (Pine Forest Monastery) nearZhongdian had. Workers were restoring much of the outside structures. Fortunately; we did not have toreturn to the bus by the same route. As we passed through a shaded valley along a stream coming down themountain we stopped to do some more plant hunting. There were some very interesting Clematis sp.growing there. One had creamy white tubular flowers. Another one was purple. I found an apple-like fruiton the Camellia soulanensis. There also was more than one species of Arisaema present. We returned to themain highway and proceeded on to Dali.The rice harvest had commenced during the two and half weeks since we had previously been there. Peoplewere in the fields hand cutting the rice stalks, and some were winnowing them over enormous baskets. Therice stalks were then tied into bundles and stacked like teepees in the field. Some rice stalks were put outonto the pavement for the traffic to drive over and break the kernels. The traffic and the numbers of peopleworking the fields were impressive. Again I was glad that Zhong was driving, not I. The traffic was veryheavy and the drivers were quite daring and aggressive. Besides rice, many of the fields were planted withtobacco. Large flooded fields were growing Colocasia, Lotus and Amorphaphallus, all of which we hadbeen served for dinner at some time.Returning to Dali was both exciting and depressing. It was a place we knew and enjoyed. It also signaledthe end of our journey. We had only to travel the long day trip back to Kunming to complete our adventure.It was good to get back to a first class hotel with hot water and other amenities. Dali was again alive withwestern tourists. We all celebrated at Jack’s where we could order fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, notas good as home-made, but almost. American style foods are served in the restaurants in the tourist area.We all went shopping and bought gifts and momentos to take home. I purchased a marble mortar and pestleset, some clothing and a 5-color batik cloth. In Zhongdian I had previously purchased a Tibetan hat, thatwas embroidered in an intricate pattern with silver and gold threads, and had ear flaps. I purchased anothermortar and pestle set; this one made of solid brass. It was very heavy. In Lijiang I purchased a finelydetailed wood carving of the Eight Immortals of Buddhist lore. I also brought home several pieces of rockthat I had picked up along the trails during our hikes. The chunk of Dali marble was especially heavy.16

Tourist literature about the areas we had visited could be purchased in the hotels in Dali and Lijiang. Thatand some botanical books on the flowering plants of Yunnan all added to the heavy weight in our luggage.The return trip to Kunming was long and arduous. It took 14 hours to make the journey, and it poured rainthe entire way. The traffic was very heavy, and we were delayed up to three hours in massive traffic jamsalong with the many blue lories. We were stuck behind one lory loaded with swine for two hours. When thetraffic did begin to move every driver pulled into the left lane to pass the others and another traffic jamensued. We saw several accidents had occurred, mostly involving the blue lories. We were very tired whenwe finally reached our hotel in Kunming, but not as tired as Zhong who had made the long trip possible. Wehad one full day available for us in Kunming so we could finish preparing our seed packets for USDAinspection upon arrival in Los Angeles. We also had time to do some sight seeing in the city. It is fardifferent atmosphere than the regions we had explored during the past three weeks.I have many other fond recollections of our plant hunting adventure in northwest Yunnan. Among these arethe following images:-Domed brick and tile kilns spewing black smoke.-Herders driving small litters of piglets along the highway.-Large black swine freely wandering the streets of the cities and villages.-Water buffalo standing knee deep in muddy fields.-An old man in a blue Mao suit sitting on a stoop, with a long curved pipe stuck between his lips.-Large guard dogs tied up in front of the Tibetan farmhouses.-Tibetan farmers, wearing their colorful hats and tunics, following a plow being pulled by yaks, which inturn were being led by the farmer’s wife, who kept them going in a straight line.-A Yi woman with a large basket strapped to her back containing a pig.-Women waking along the road with baskets full of Sunflowers strapped to their backs.-A young girl in colorful costume sitting on a doorstep knitting.-People working the fields planting tubers of Taro or Amorphophallus.-Traffic jams near the town centers at the local markets.-People in colorful costumes representing the various nationalities.-Piles of red peppers drying in the sun.-Small tractors and trailers with people, goats, pigs, furniture, and all other sort of farm produce going to thelocal market.-Baskets or open bags of dry seed being offered in the markets.-Fresh meat laying on open tables being sold in the markets.-Ears of corn drying on rooftops.-Intricately carved stone monuments lined up for sale along the roadside.-Craftsmen with chisels carving the monuments.-Slabs of polish marble stacked in front of shops in Dali.-A large statue of Mao in the square in Lijiang with his arm and hand outstretched.-Sliced lotus root drying in flat baskets along the road.-Men selling wild collected Orchid plants along the roadside.-An old woman wearing a dark blue pantsuit, in a doorway flossing her teeth.-People crouched over an open flowing gutter washing their faces.-Young people in military uniforms in every town and city.-Truckloads of military personal traveling down the road.-Large buses carrying passengers who are riding in sleeping berths, with rows of small windows.-Rows of Eucalyptus trees for miles along the highway.-The new highway, under construction, with the roadcuts eroding in the heavy rain.-Paper and plastic litter everywhere. Enormous piles of accumulated garbage along the city streets.-Cannabis sativa growing with corn and tobacco in the fields.-Blue lories loaded with cut logs.-Clear cut forests, recently replanted with nursery grown seedlings.-Barren mountainsides, and muddy rivers.-A phenomenal array of plants, from tropical to alpine. A plant hunters paradise.-Damp meadows with pads of blue gentians, and other fall blooming wildflowers.-Evidence of human intrusion in the most remote locations.-Resinous purple cones standing erect on the branches of the Fir trees.17

-Heavy traffic on the highways and in the urban areas, composed of bicycles (fewer than expected), tractors,autos (more than expected, especially small 4-wheel drive Mitsubishi utility vehicles), blue lories, deliveryvans and buses.-Urban bicyclists under colorful ponchos on rainy days.-Noisy cities: Loud music, honking traffic, construction noise.The wide diversity of plants is most memorable. I have only scratched the surface of the broad selection tobe found in Yunnan. Because of the variation of elevation the selection ranged from tropical to alpine.Yunnan is truly a paradise for a plant addict like myself. The others, and I have expressed an interest inreturning, and investigating other locations in Yunnan to see what we have missed. Yunnan has been calledthe “Land of Eternal Spring”. I have always enjoyed the spring.18