Memoirs of an orchid hunter – Page 2 – Naresh Swami | The Orchids of the Sikkim Himalaya

Liparis perpusilla Hook.f.

The Plant

Epiphyte. Pseudo stems small, compressed, fleshy, 1.5 to 3 cm long and 0.6 cm in width, arising close together. Stem with many thick long roots arising from its base. Leaf 3 to 5 arising from the apex of the stem circling it, oblong, erect, 2 to 6 cm long and less than 1 cm in width, apex pointed, base sessile, with many of them slightly curved towards their apex. Flower small, many in an erect inflorescence arising from the apex of the stem surrounded by the leaves. Inflorescence almost twice longer than the longest leaf of each plant, cylindrical, ribbed, fleshy.

The Flower

Flower less than 1 cm across. Sepals un-equal, oblong and with blunt apex. Dorsal erect, longer than the lateral. Lateral sepals wider than the dorsal, diagonally spreading. Petals linear to oblong, longer and much narrow than the sepals, arranged pointing downwards across the pedicel. Lip deflexed at the middle, deeply grooved from base to apex, margins wavy. Floral bract erect, shorter than the long pedicelled ovary, diminishing in length towards the apex of the inflorescence, arising from the lower base of the pedicel.

Flower brownish yellow to pale yellow. Floral bract green.

The Pursuit

I had found this species for three continuous years that too from three different locations. Of the three finds, the first one was the most thrilling; hence that pursuit story is described here.

With the alpine flower hunt I moved to high mountains by the mid of June. The trip got delayed by 15 days due to inclement weather and roadblocks caused by heavy rains. As that was my first alpine pursuit, it took a few days for me to get adjusted with the climatic conditions of the high mountains. However, I was blessed to find a very good person to assist me in the field. Even though he never ventured deep inside the forests of the region, he was aware about few trek routes that crisscross the forests.

In the first week itself, he took me to a very dense forested hill, which was higher in altitude than the place of my stay. Even though the uphill climb was very tedious, the dense forest was home to many species. Hence every other day we made a visit to those forests. After a week of sunny days the weather changed to heavy to very heavy rains. It rained continuously for 6 days. I was really upset about the weather conditions. The loss of a week during those peak flowering season was going to bring a big impact in my whole strategy. Finally, on the seventh day rain clouds cleared to make way for the Sun.

We took the uphill climb again looking for more species. As we were surveying the area, rain clouds appeared from nowhere and it started raining heavily. Even though we were prepared with raincoats and rain covers for the camera bag, we both were awe struck because of the sudden and intense rain. My friend guided me through that heavy rains and we took shelter under the trunk of a fallen tree. The tree was huge and very old with its main trunk more than 2 m in diameter under which we were well protected from the heavy showers. The only discomfort was that we both had to sit on our knees.

As time went by I started scanning the tree trunk and its broken branches for any possible species. To my surprise I found a small bunch of this species right next to where I was sitting, a small bunch of around 12 to 15 plants. This species is so small; even 12 to 15 plants occupy hardly few centimeters. Its peculiar stem shape and leaf arrangements made me instantly identify the species. My friend also spotted the species but advised me to wait for the rains to stop. He was more eager than me to safe guard my camera equipments from rainwaters and also to protect both of us from getting wet. We waited for another 4 hours for the rains to stop. However, there was no sign of it stopping. As it started to get dark we descended the hills with the help of walking sticks made from the branches of that fallen tree. It took more than 3 hours to reach downhill, a distance we normally cover in 40 minutes. The next week plans also got washed away in heavy rains.

On the 9^th day we were able to start surveying again and we went straight to the dense forested hill and to the fallen tree. I spotted the same bunch that we encountered on the previous rainy day. The plants were as the same, no buds or flowers. But, my inner mind said that there was a possibility to find more of the species. We both surveyed the whole fallen tree for the next 45 minutes to find seven bunches of the species, three of them in full bloom. But, the heavy showers of the previous days made the flowers water soaked and rotten. With great difficulty I selected a couple of flowers and documented them for the sake of presentation. Even though in the next weeks and months of my Alpine days I searched for this plant in various locations in vain.

In the following year I found the plant again from another location, this time with fresh and beautiful flowers and I was able to produce some great photographs of it.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Liparis perpusilla Hook., Page no 33.

Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó. – the Alba variety.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 12 to 16 cm in height. Tuber solitary, attached to the dried previous year’s tuber, rotund to oval, 1.2 cm long and 0.8 cm in cross section, with many fleshy long roots arising from the fresh tuber as well as dried roots of the previous year’s tuber. Stem almost half the height of the whole plant, arising from the apex of the fresh tuber, fleshy, with three lanceolate clasping sheaths surrounding its base, sheaths 0.75 to 3 cm long. Leaf one or two, arising from the top of the sheath or high above it, lanceolate to elliptic, 2.5 to 4 cm long and 1.2 to 2 cm in width at its widest part, diagonally erect, narrowed to a long clasping petiole. Flowers two, arranged at the topmost portion of a long cylindrical and faintly ribbed terminal spike, secund.

The Flower

Flowers large, 2 to 2.5 cm across. Sepals un-equal, the dorsal half the size of the lateral, ovate, arching forward over the petals. Lateral sepals spreading, ovate, upper margin sickle shaped and with upward pointing apex, one to three nerved. Petals as long as or slightly longer than the dorsal sepal, ovate, arranged forward with curving and overlapping apex. Lip less widely than the lateral sepals, obcordate in outline, with its apex cut to form mid and side lobes; mid lobe apiculate or rounded, side lobes oblong, both with irregular apex margins. Spur as long as the ovary and the lip, cylindrical, slightly curved upwards and compressed. Floral bract lanceolate, erect, longer than the ovary but diminishing to less than half in length in the apex flower and arising from the upper base of it.

Sepals and petals white with the latter being translucent. Petals with minutely yellow or thickened white veins. Lip pure white. Spur creamy white and translucent. Floral bract pale green.

Note: The Alba variety of Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó., is a new report to the region as well to the family of orchidaceae.

Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó. – the Alba variety.

The Pursuit

Another new find to the world of orchids. I never came across any literature on the Alba of Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó., during my initial home work on orchids of the region. Hence, never thought about looking for it.

In the third month of the Alpine flowering season I was camping around 16,000 ft in a valley far away from any human settlement. The valley, which is to be mentioned as virgin and devoid of any scientific explorations, was home to thousands of plants. Every other minute I was able to spot some or other plants, which are rare or new to my knowledge.

As there were no human settlements, the only stream of the valley hasn’t got many bridges across it but for one. The bridge – half broken, was constructed to facilitate security patrols to the International border. Even though the river is not deep, the water is so cold and the flow very rapid, thus preventing crossing over on foot. Thus surveying the region turned out to be of great difficulty, as I have to reach the point of the bridge to cross the river, which was very far away from my location of stay. However, I was determined to explore more and more areas every day by walking the extra mile.

During those the region received heavy showers, which made my pursuit tougher. Even though I was equipped with all weather tents, the strong winds along with heavy showers made the stay there very uncomfortable. The heavy winds made rainwater drip inside my tent through its air openings. Also, keeping the camera and other accessories dry and safe turned out to be very difficult. Three days passed by like that with similar climatic conditions. As we were unable to cook anything because of heavy rains and winds, my assistant and I were forced to live on dry fruits and fruit juices. Even drinking water went scarce; as we were not able to boil water, which we normally collect from the river or rain.

On the third night, winds settled down and clouds disappeared, making way to twinkling stars in the sky. At those high altitudes with clear sky, stars appear to be brighter and the sky beautiful. I was so delighted to see the clear skies and started planning for the next day’s trip.

We set out on our journey early morning – after a very good breakfast. I will always remember that morning food as we were deprived of any cooked food for previous three previous days. As we were walking to the bridge to cross the river, my assistant suggested that we should cross the river by walking across the waters. Even though we both will get wet up to chest high, he suggested that we could save more than 2 hours and do more survey in that time. The waters were freezing and were flowing at very high speed. After a brief thought and prayers I agreed with my trusted lieutenant. We both tied rope to each other around 5 feet apart, carried the waterproof camera bag and lunch pack on our heads and crossed the river with at most care. It took almost 3 minutes to cross the river of hardly 8 meters wide. The chill was unbearable, but we took each step with at most care so that none of us stumbled. I was taller than my assistant and was chest deep in water, not to mention about his apathy.

Across the river, we sat on the ground for drying our clothes. At those altitudes Sun is so bright and heavy winds make the clothes dry very fast. As we were there, my handkerchief put for drying flew away in a strong wind. My assistant chased it and got hold of it around 35 meters away. As he picked up the handkerchief, he spotted a batch of plants with pure white flowers. He, working with me for the previous six months became a very good orchid hunter and called up on me to come there and have a look.

I put few stones on the rest of the clothes so that winds will not dislocate it and went to my friend’s location. It was a total surprise to see those plants – the Alba of Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó., a variety never ever discovered. I can’t forget that first sight of those plants and the circumstances that made me discover it for the scientific world. But for those three rainy days and the crazy mind of both of us in crossing a chill cold fast flowing river, this variety would have went unnoticed at least for that flowering season.

The interesting second part of the find– documentation, turned out to be so hard in those windy and sunny conditions. We were forced to construct walls with our dress on three sides to prevent winds from oscillating the plants. Finally, after more than two hours of hard work I was able to produce documentary evidence of this variety to my satisfaction.

Reference:

The Alba variety of Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó., is a new report to the region as well to the family of orchidaceae.

Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 6 to 9 cm in height. Tuber single, 0.75 to 1 cm long and less than 0.75 cm in width at its widest part, ovate to orbicular, with 3 to 4 short and thick roots arising from it along with a few thin fibrous roots. Stem cylindrical, thick, arising from the apex of the bulb and less than one-third in height of the whole plant, covered with the petiole of the leaf and with a long clasping lanceolate sheath at its base. Leaf solitary, arising from the apex of the stem, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 2 to 3 cm long and 1.2 cm in width at its widest part, sessile, base clasping and narrowed to a long petiole. Flowers two, arranged at the topmost portion of a long cylindrical and faintly ribbed terminal spike, secund.

The Flower

Flowers large, 2.5 to 3 cm long diagonally. Sepals un-equal, the dorsal much smaller than that of the lateral. Dorsal sepal oblanceolate, diagonally erect and not touching the petals, its base margins curved forward to form a wide boat like structure. Lateral sepals larger than the dorsal, ovate, spreading and curved upwards, margins undulate and sickle shaped at its base. Petals as long as the dorsal sepal, oblong to oval, curved forward with its apex overlapping or touching each other. Lip longer and wider than the lateral sepals, obcordate in outline, with faintly cut apex forming mid and side lobes; apex of both mid and side lobes rounded. Spur as long as the ovary and the lip, cylindrical, straight, slightly compressed. Floral bract lanceolate, erect, longer than the ovary but diminishing to less than half in length in the apex flower and arising from the upper base of it.

Stem pink at its base turning dark brown towards its apex, the sheath at the base of the stem is creamy white with brown reticulations. Floral spike pale green at its base and turning dark pink towards its apex.

Sepals and petals pink to dark rose. Lip of the same shade but with irregular dark shaded patches and white markings at its base surrounding the mouth of the spur. Spur pale pink. Ovary brownish pink. Floral bract dark brown to reddish brown.

Note: Described as Orchis chusua Don. var nana King and Pantling., by the authors in the Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 8:304 (1898), during their monumental work on orchids from the region of Sikkim-Himalayas. Later on, many authors moved the variety to Gymnadenia and Ponerorchis, with some retaining it as Orchis. According to present Kew Database on World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, the variety got merged with the Ponerorchis chusua (D.Don) Soó., which is entirely another plant growing at a different altitude and habitat with all together different characteristics. This author is of the concerned opinion, by discovering the variety again and conducting a detailed in-situ study, that the above variety should be described as Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó. (Reference: Acta Bot. Acad. Sci. Hung. 12:353 (1966)). Interestingly, the plant has its own Alba, thus making it a species by its own characteristics.

Ponerorchis nana (King and Pantling) Soó.

The Pursuit

A plant which went undocumented for some 125 years after its first report from the region of Sikkim-Himalayas. Even after several exploration and expedition trips year after year in the region by many research scholars, the variety remained untraced, thus was merged with its species form.

I was not able to find any related documents or photographs of this variety during my pre-survey work. However, the variety was a top priority in my list of pursuit.

After a thrilling trek I succeeded to find the species form, that too by the second half of the flowering season. As the flowering season would be over soon, I was of the opinion that the variety may not be found. By the end of the third month, I was regularly accompanied by a very kindhearted forest staff. We regularly took uphill drive, courtesy Army convoy, and surveyed many new areas every day. The results were amazing with many new finds.

We planned a trip to one of the most remote valleys of the region by the end of the third month. The valley was around 27 km of trek from the place of last motorable road. The only human settlements in the valley were of security people guarding the borders. Hence, entry and research into that valley were highly restricted and needed multiple permissions from various agencies. Luckily, I was granted permission to work there. However, the other official who accompanies me was denied permission by the authorities. Thus I was left all alone to work in that remote area.

It took almost 13 hours of trek for me to reach there. Even though I encountered many plants in flower, I was left with no option than walking as fast as I could, so to reach the camp before sun set. Next day morning, I ventured into the valley, a real botanical paradise. The long trek of the previous day has made my feet swollen; it was very difficult to fit both my feet into my boots. I was forced to borrow a bigger sized boot of a soldier from the camp. Even with those swollen feet I took a trek along the only stream of the valley. Thousands of flowers were in full bloom all along the river. I felt it would be better to crawl along the ground so that I would not miss any of those flowers. Interestingly no orchids were spotted for the first three hours of my survey in that new world.

As I was returning to the camp for lunch, I met a patrol party of soldiers returning to the camp after their routine border patrol. As always, soldiers raise a lot of question regarding any outsider’s visit. While explaining to them about my nature of duty, one of them took his mobile and shown me some photographs of flowers he had captured. I was so disappointed to see no orchid photograph from his hundreds of flower photographs. In return of his generosity, I took out my Ipad to show them my photograph collections of orchids. As they were going through the photographs, I explained to them what an orchid look like. Suddenly, he opened his mobile again to show a few other photographs he stored in another folder. They were only a few, but one of them, a damaged plant was like the one I was looking for – the variety which was unheard and unseen for more than a century. However, he was not able to remember from where he found the plant.

As I was determined to locate the plant, I planned my next three in such a way that I could cover most of the areas. The first day went without any trace of the plant even after surveying many miles. The second day was disrupted with morning showers, later on, the day became clear with sunshine and I was out to another location in search of the plant. The day ended without any success, even though some other interesting Alpine flowers were spotted.

On the third day, I went to a higher open meadow, which had a small lake in the middle. As I was walking along its bank, I spotted few very small plants with pink to rose flowers growing next to some small scattered rocks. They were hardly 5 to 7 cm in height. I never thought next moment I am going to create history by re-discovering a plant not found for more than a century. I went near to the plant and on close observation I was sure it was the one I was looking for. The find made me speechless; the joy boundless. I settled down on the ground to normalize my heartbeat and breathe and produced some real great photographs of the plant.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Orchis chusua Don. var nana King and Pantling., Page no 304.

Ponerorchis chusua (D.Don) Soó.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 12 to 26 cm in height. Tuber two, unequal and attached to each other with a small fleshy attachment, obelliptic to obovate, 1 to 1.5 cm long and about 1 cm in width at its widest part, naked. The new and small tuber developing to a matured one for the corresponding year. Stem arising from the apex of the matured tuber, almost two-third in height of the whole plant, cylindrical, naked and minutely narrowing towards its apex, faintly ribbed. Leaves two, unequal, arranged distance apart, 2 to 5 cm long and less than 1 cm in width, oblanceolate with broader base, sessile and clasping. The lower more than twice long as the upper one. Flowers 4 to 7 in a terminal spike much narrow than the stem, not secund.

The Flower

Flowers 2 to 2.5 cm long diagonally. Sepals un-equal; dorsal smaller than the lateral, lanceolate to ovate, arching over the petals, one nerved; lateral ovate with narrowing and wavy apex, spreading, three nerved. Petals slightly longer than the dorsal sepal, ovate, arranged forward with curving and over-lapping apex, one nerved. Lip distinctly and deeply three lobed, mid and side lobes as long as the lateral sepals; mid lobe narrow and short than the side lobes, oblong; lateral diverging, obelliptic with wider apex and sickle curve inner margins, apex margin with many wide round teeth. Spur longer than the lip and the ovary, slightly curved, cylindrical with wide base and apex, tip rounded. Leaf bract of varying size, diminishing towards the apex of the plant, lanceolate, erect or horizontal, 1 to 4 cm long and less than 1 cm in width, three nerved, arising from the upper base of the ovary.

Stem pale green reticulated with pink throughout, except near to the base of the two leaves, where it is pale green. Floral spike of a darker pinkish brown shade.

Sepals and petals pinkish white turning pale pink towards its apex with many irregular darker spots and markings. Lip of a darker pinkish shade throughout with a few distinct elongated spots on its base margining the mouth of the spur, the mid lobe also got few irregular markings of the same dark shade. Spur pinkish white at its base turning pale pink to its apex. Floral bract brownish green on its upper portion and pinkish brown on its lower portion.

The Pursuit

A beautiful small plant of the Alpine slopes, spread across half the length of the globe, from the mountains Siberia to the Himalayas. During my research time I searched many books by Indian “scientists” for a good documentary evidence (photograph) of this plant in vain. However, many lengthy articles were published on this species. As there was no proper documentary evidence for reference on this species, the species found a special mention in my list for the Alpine hunt.

King and Pantling had mentioned its altitude between 10,000 and 13,000 ft and blooming period as July and August. I moved to the high alpine areas by the first week of June and was working relatively in the lower altitudes during the first month. By July, I became very much accustomed with the high alpine region and was able to cover many unexplored regions and discovered several undocumented species. But, this one remained elusive. The description of the species and an analysis of its other habitats across the globe prompted me to concentrate on wet open slopes for the species. In the alpine region, the higher we go the drier the slopes are. However, the region in mention by King and Pantling comes in the wet zone, especially in the monsoon months between June and August.

Several days went by without a trace of the species. As those days were my first visit to the alpine zone, I was travelling all over the region every day. Repeated failures to locate the species in vain prompted me to assume that the species may have gone extinct. As the area I was covered was negligible in comparison to the vast Himalayas, I was certain I would find it from another habitat. Hence, I moved to another location in pursuit of the species.

On the fifth day at my new location, during our breakfast meeting my local guide informed about an open valley surrounded by very high mountains. He also explained to me the difficult climb up an 18,450 ft high pass to reach the location. I was eager to visit the location, however the guide was very much reluctant to accompany. It took a couple of days to convince him to accompany me. Another two days also went past in organising the journey including yaks to carry tent and other necessary food items for the 6 day up and down trek and a couple of days stay in the valley. The journey was very tedious; the uphill climb was very hard. We were able to trek hardly for 4 hours a day. On the second day, we camped at the top of the pass at 18,450 ft. While pitching tent, the strong winds blew our tent downhill. We were forced to spend the remaining part of the day and night inside the erected tent, so that our weight would prevent the winds from blowing away the tent. On the third day, we descended down to the valley to a much lower altitude of around 16,750 ft, which was more than 20 to 25 sq. km. wide. Even though, the trek was tedious and hard, I found a couple of rare species during this trek.

Early next morning, I started my pursuit in this new habitat, thus becoming the first botanist to step foot there. As the valley was surrounded by high hills, there were no winds; the air was steady. Even the percentage of oxygen was high, easing our breath. The first two hours went enjoying various flora of the new “world” and documenting some other Alpine flowers. As I was surveying the banks of a narrow stream, I stumbled across a patch of this species with most of them in bloom. The plants were with unnoticeably small narrow leaves and wide pink flowers. They were all growing near to each other thus making a carpet of pale pink. The habitat was about 12 to 15 ft wide and some 20 ft in length. Even though not precise, I counted about 45 specimens in that habitat. To select a few plants to document from a beautiful set of plants was always a very difficult task. Each one seems to be better than the other.

Finally, I zeroed on seven plants for study and documentation and produced some perfect documentary evidences, probably for the first time in the history of the species from the region. We spent another six days there re-discovering another few species, thus creating history. The return journey was made very tedious with the blessings of the rain god.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Orchis chusua Don., Page no 303/304.

Malaxis muscifera (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Plant of varying height, 7 to 40 cm. Stem arising from the base of an ovoid pseudo-bulb of the previous year, slender, fleshy with a broad ovate long sheath at its base often overlapping with another short one half its lengths. Pseudo-bulb with many fibrous roots from its base and covered with many dried sheaths of the previous year. Stem between one-third and half the height of the whole plant. Leaves two, almost opposite in arrangement, unequal, ovate to oblong, 2 to 5 cm in length and 1 to 3 cm in width, base narrowed to a tubular petiole. Inflorescence terminal, raceme ribbed, flowers small, many, laxly arranged.

The Flower

Flowers non-resupinate. Sepals un-equal, lanceolate with broad base, dorsal pointing downwards, lateral erect and somewhat twisted to its apex. Petals as long as the sepals, much narrowed, oblong and spreading. Lip cordate with broad base, slightly longer than the sepals and petals, fleshy, basal part thickened with side lobes. Floral bract lanceolate, arising from the lower base and as long as the twisted and erect ovary.

Sepals, petals and floral bract yellowish green. Lip dark green with its pointed apex turning yellowish green.

Malaxis muscifera (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis.

The Pursuit

A species with its presence all over the Himalayas and well-documented. I too spotted it from the compound of my place of stay in the initial days itself. However, a close study of few specimens near to my place of stay made me think about studying the species from a wide range, as many specimens had shown variations. Hence, every other day I studied several specimens I encountered.

In the mean time, I came across an article on “Resupination” in an International journal. The theory mentioned in the article made me eager to know whether any of the specimens of this species behave the same way as mentioned in the article. Even though I observed several hundred specimens in the coming days none of them showed anything related to the theory in the article.

In the third month of the Alpine flowering season, I was busy travelling up and down the hill documenting and studying many species. In between I found time to check this species also for any new theories. One afternoon, as I was walking back to my camp after long hours in the high hills, I observed few specimens of this species growing close together some 5 ft below into the valley side of my trek route. My curiosity made me think of having a close look of those specimens. The slope was almost vertical and any mistake in negotiating the way down would be a disaster. With the help of my guide I maneuvered down the vertical slope and reached the plants. All of them were in bloom. As the flowers were so tiny, it need close and sharp observation to see the differences. As I was not having a proper positioning there it was very difficult to do keen observation and document those flowers. However, I understood those tiny flowers need more keen observation as I found something unusual.

I decided to retire for the day and come back next day with adequate gear to go down the slope and make right understanding of the flowers. Next day, we took a 7-foot long bamboo ladder and a few meters of rope to the location for facilitating the descent. We hung the ladder down the slope by tying it to a nearby Rhododendron tree with ropes. I slowly went down the ladder and standing on its second last step, I studied the flowers using a magnifying glass. To my surprise I found that the flowers of those specimens were resupinate, where as in all others cases the flowers were non-resupinate. There was no limit to my joy, as the new finding is going to re-write history. Even though I was very dangerously positioned, I did all I can do to document the flowers with all its minute details.

This is possibly the only photo documentary evidence of resupinate flowers of this species, thus opening a new dimension in the study of resupination world wide.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Microstylis muscifera Ridley., Page no 20/21.

Dienia cylindrostachya Lindl.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Stem narrow, about 0.5 cm in diameter, 4 to 9 cm in height, arising from the base of a tuber of the previous year. Stem cylindrical along the lower portion, turning ribbed to the apex and with a long lanceolate sheath at its base. Leaf solitary, attached around one third from the base of the stem, elliptic, 3 to 6 cm long and 1.25 to 1.75 cm in width, the base narrowed to a long tubular petiole, which runs to the base of the stem. Inflorescence terminal, 5 to 11 cm long, raceme cylindrical, with many closely arranged (crowded) small flowers.

The Flower

Flowers non-resupinate. Sepals unequal, dorsal oblanceolate with broader base, undulate and pointing downwards; lateral oblanceolate to lanceolate with broad base, erect, slightly shorter than the dorsal. Petals much narrowed, oblong to linear, shorter or almost of the same length as that of the lateral sepals, diagonally spreading. Lip fleshy, orbicular in outline with a pointed erect apex, its margins thickened and with a converging narrow broad marginal structure running from its apex to the base under the column. Floral bract lanceolate, shorter or as long as the ovary, erect and arising from the lower base of the diagonally erect ovary.

Sepals, petals and the pointed apex of the lip yellowish green. Margins of the lip green turning pale towards its inside. Floral bract green at its base turning yellowish green towards its apex.

The Pursuit

One of the most difficult and rare to find ground orchid of the alpine region. During my theoretical research on this species I never encountered a photograph of the same taken from the region. As in the case of many other species, several research articles regarding this species added to the confusion and mismatches.

King and Pantling’s iconic work mentioned this species from an area of about 12,000 ft and blooming in July. Hence, I was hunting for this species above 10,000 ft from the mid of June. A whole week went by without any trace of the species. It was my first visit to the region and I was facing many hurdles in working in those dense forested areas. June is the month of heavy rains and it hindered my work every other day. However, as I was new to the region, every other day I was able to locate some amazing new finds.

On the third week of June, there was an alert from the meteorological department about heavy to very heavy thundershowers. As the entire region comes under the control of the Army the movement of any individuals other than locals needed prior permissions. The authorities will be very reluctant to allow any movement during those days. I was also asked not to make any adventurous moves. I was forced to be in my camp for two days in a row. I was well aware that many species were in bloom on those days, and I was restless to be closeted inside the camp. On the second day, it rained heavily all through the day till I went to sleep around 11 PM. Next morning by 5 AM, the skies had cleared and I was able to see the tall trees outside my room through the window. Sun rays were peeping through its shining green leaves. As I was surprised to see the change in weather I was out in the field in no time. My plan was to go uphill to the same location around 10,000 ft to continue in search of this species. As I was waiting for the Army convoy to go uphill, I got news that there will be no vehicular movement on that day too. As it was late to walk uphill, I decided to walk downhill in search of any other species. As downhill walk is relatively easy and quick, I covered around 2 km in no time. My attention went to an open green field some 50 ft down on the left side of the road. Every time I passed through that road that particular area had attracted my attention. A small concrete trek was there to facilitate domestic grazing, even though I never found any animals there. The trek disappears after around 20 to 25 m and the open slope stretches to a thick-forested area along the river.

On my way downhill I noticed many ground orchids spurting up, even though identifying them in their budding stage was very difficult. After the trek road came to a dead end, walking downhill was very hard. The previous two days of heavy shower made the slope very slippery. As I was not carrying my walking stick, I moved down with great caution.

As I was helping myself downhill with caution by holding on to small bushes, I noticed a single leaved plant with its inflorescence broken. I instantly identified the species with its leaf shape, as I had glanced the drawing of this species from the King and Pantling’s monumental work several hundred times. On close observation I found that 3 flowers were open on the broken inflorescence, which made me establish its identity with authenticity. Even after searching the areas around the plant I was not able to find the remaining broken part of the inflorescence. I was totally disappointed about the situation as well as surprised to find the plant in bloom at a much lower altitude and a month earlier than what King and Pantling’s findings. Determined to thoroughly search the area, I left my heavy baggage there to make my movement easy and searched most of that open green slope. My hard work never paved any result as I was not able to trace any other specimens. Finally, around afternoon I documented the plant with the broken inflorescence to make it an evidence of the species and walked back home disappointed.

Next day, it was sunnier than the previous day and I was on the open slope as early as the Sun rise, this time equipped with my walking stick. I walked down to the edge of the open area and was thoroughly searching each and every corner. Finally, after around 1 hour and 45 minutes of search I was able to locate two more specimens of this species, that too in full bloom. The inflorescence was in full bloom from its base to apex. It was such a wonderful sight to see a plant I was dreaming for, in front of me. The next couple of hours flew of in no time with drawings and photographing. Finally by late afternoon I started climbing up the slope for my trek back home. Interestingly on my climb back, I found one more specimen of this species in full bloom. Spent another hour with that too to make comparative notes and photographs.

This was one of the few species found growing in lower altitudes than what was described by King and Pantling. Interestingly, none of the research works which were published in the last few decades never mentioned about this altitudinal difference. Every research papers mentioned the altitudinal range of this species as 12,000 ft and it’s blooming in July, as mentioned by King and Pantling. These factual information emphasizes the importance of real field studies which is lacking among researchers.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Microstylis cylindrostachya Reichb., Page no 20.

Cypripedium himalaicum Rolfe.

The Plant

Terrestrial. An annular herb of about 8 to 12 cm in height from the alpine slopes. Stem and peduncle pubescent, with the former smaller in length than the former. Stem clothed at its base with 2 to 3 unequal tubular sheaths. Leaves 3 or 4, almost alternate in arranged, unequal with the lowest the smallest, ovate to elliptic, sessile with clasping base and pointed apex, 0.75 to 3.5 cm long and 0.5 to 3 cm in width, 5 to 7 strong veins and several narrow veins in between them, both the surface and its margins minutely hairy. Flower solitary at the apex of the erect peduncle.

The Flower

Flower large, 2 to 3 cm across. Sepals unequal; dorsal sepal ovate, acute, diagonally arching, laxly pubescent; lateral pair united under the lip, broadly ovate. Petals longer than the dorsal sepal, lanceolate, diagonally spreading with its apex curved forward, inner surface with many long white hairs to its base, margins pubescent. Lip saccate, diagonally pendulous, rotund in outline. Floral bract longer than that of the flower, lanceolate, arching diagonally over the dorsal sepal, arising from behind the arched short ovary, puberulosus, many veined.

The outer surface of both sepals and petals are pale brown with many darker veins and markings running all along its length; their inner surface pale brown with many irregular broken streaks and markings of dark brown paler than that of its outer surface. Lip brown but covered almost with bright reddish to purplish shade. Floral bract bright green.

The Pursuit

A plant of the high Himalayan slopes and open dry areas. Not as rare as its counter parts. I missed this species for two continuous seasons. In the third year of my alpine work, I was staying with a very good friend of mine at the highest village of North Sikkim. He was assigned with building the highest hydro power station of the country there. He was an ardent lover of flowers and lead many expeditions in the various sectors of Himalayas and was lucky enough to spot this plant few years back from the region. That year too it bloomed in the same location and he guided me to there to see it in bloom.

But my deep desire to find it from a new location prompted me to undertake difficult treks on mountain slopes. Around 14,000 ft, there are stretches of high mountains towering to above 17,000 ft in height. There are many thousand floral plants up to its two third height, the rest height is devoid of any floral growth other than rocky surface. I had climbed up to its summit several times in search of many plants. A week after I photographed this species from the location my good friend showed me, I decided to search for the species again in those high mountains at higher elevations. On the fifth day of the search, I was taking a deep ascent of those high mountains from its southern side. It was very steep and hard to negotiate. I was forced to lie down and crawl up between various spots. After a steep climb I reached a flat place which was full with blooming Iris.It was very beautiful and was taking few photographs of it. A strong wind came from the northerly direction and took my cap away. The wind threw the cap to the other side of the flattened surface. Leaving my camera and other accessories behind I tried to take back my cap which was stuck to a small Rhododendron plant on the steep side of the hill. As there were many such plants I know I will got skid down the mountain and I sat there and slowly moved on my back to reach the cap and collected it back. As I was crawling back I found something very bright coloured under that Rhododendron plant. Not one second was needed for identifying a plant like this that also when it is in bloom. I was very much satisfied with the find, but to document it on that steep slope needed for logistics. I returned to my base camp and arranged ropes and other necessary things for next days trip.

Unfortunately I haven’t got any porters to carry the ropes up the mountain and made two trips to make those heavy weighted ropes and my camera accessories reach the spot. By fixing the rope to a few Rhododendron plants and the other end rigidly on me I went down the slope and crawled under the other plant to reach the species and with much difficulty produced this photograph. I was interested in back lighting the plant to get some more details made the thing little more complicated. One flash light I fixed behind the flower rolled further down hill and disappeared inside the Rhododendron thickets. It was an expensive accessory and I wanted it back at any risk. The rope I was using was not so long for reaching any further down also. Suddenly, out of blue, a local villager appeared there. He was there to collect some herbs used for making herbal tea. I told him the unfortunate incident and he with much ease went down hill without even holding or taking support of the rope and searched the whole area and brought my flash back. Then he also encountered this species. Then came the most unfortunate incident, he puled out the whole plant from there even before I can stop him. He wanted to plant it in his home. I was sure it will not survive in his home and my find of another location of the species went in vain. I still hope on that slope there will be some more plant of this species.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Cypripedium himalaicum Rolfe., Page no 342.

Cypripedium elegans Reichb.

The Plant

Terrestrial. A small plant of about 6 to 8 cm in height from the alpine slopes. Stem and peduncle of the same length, stem stouter than the peduncle, both pubescent with the former thicker than the latter. Leaves two, arranged at the apex of the stem, opposite, orbicular to ovate, sessile, puberulosus, three to five veined, 2 to 3 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm in width. Flower solitary at the apex of the scape.

The Flower

Flower 1 to 1.5 cm across. Sepal unequal, dorsal ovate, arching puberulosus; the lateral pair united under the lip, broadly ovate. Petal lanceolate with almost round base, longer than the dorsal sepal, spreading diagonally with its apex curved out. Lip a saccate lobe, with three wavy long ridges on its upper surface, running from the base and converging around its apex, the surface around the ridges are with long laxly arranged hairs. Floral bract lanceolate, puberulosus, arising from behind the short horizontal ovary and diagonally arching over the flower.

Dorsal sepal brown with darker long broad lines converging on both sides. Lateral pale brown with irregular pinkish brown markings. Petals pale brown with dark brown base and many irregular streaks and markings of the same shade towards its apex. Lip rosy pink with dark pinkish irregular markings on the three ridges. Floral bract bright green. The puberulosus growths on the stem and peduncle shiny white.

The Pursuit

A beautiful plant seldom photographed or even spotted from the alpine slopes. During my first high altitude flower hunt, the find of this species was my priority. Accompanied by my forest guard friend, we searched several places for this species mostly around the altitude King and Pantling mentioned in their monumental work. Our search went on for months without any trace of this species. As we searched every day and discussed this species both of us got obsessed about the species to the extend that we used to yell inside the forest, “Cypripedium elegans where are you?”With the summer at its peak and alpine meadows started appearing, I moved to higher altitudes for more finds. I was having hope in finding this species from somewhere during my survey.

One day, by the mid of my high alpine search, my vehicle got some technical fault and I was forced to travel along with another set of research students in their vehicle. Their destination of work on that day was in a place I had never worked before. They were there to build a green house to study the effect of climate change. Their work was on the side of a stream with heavy water flow. As we were there, I noticed a fallen huge Abies spectabilis tree across the stream. The length of the tree was more than that of the stream and was lying flat around 2 to 3 m in height above the water surface with both its bottom rooted portion and its apex firmly fixed to either sides of the stream, thus forming a natural bridge. I thought of crossing to the other side of the stream. But I, met with many discouraging advices from the colleagues. However, I took the risk of crossing the stream and went inside the adjoining deep forest. The nature of the terrain shows that the whole area was never visited by any humans or even cattle of the near by hamlet. Before I took a few steps inside the forest itself, I spotted a few plants, which I had already found from other locations. But the presence of two very rare orchids among them increased my curiosity many fold to go inside the forest and to do a detailed survey. I was aware that I might face much wildlife from that location. The choice was left with me to either move ahead or return. My life was always filled with curiosity to explore new places and I decided to go ahead. The entire region was of Rhododendrons of hardly 1.5 to 2 m in height. As I was negotiating through thickets of Rhododendrons, crawling under them, I found three plants of this species in bloom with two of them with fresh flowers. It was the most exiting moment of my entire orchid hunt; a plant, which was seldom found, was in front of me, that too in flower during my first visit to a new location. Usually it takes several visits to various locations to see plants in bloom. The plants were so small; I had to lie down flat on that wet and moist land to have a close look at it. It took several hours to make drawings and documentations of this species. But it was worth a deal, probably that was the first time this species was documented the same way I did on that day. I was aware that those photographs of the species would be a referral photograph for many in the years to come around the globe, hence put more efforts with different lighting techniques. By that time my friends completed their work and wanted to return and were yelling and screaming at me to return. I came to the edge of the stream and asked them to return and said that I will follow later. However, to my surprise no one from that team wanted to know what the rarity I got that made me stay back on a dangerous forested place all by myself. I was taken aback by their indifference. I settled there for another 3 more hours with those two plants in bloom and produced this wonderful photograph.

The day ended memorably with a great find of a rare species and another memorable walk of around 4 hours through those winding roads of the Himalayas to reach my base camp under the darkness of a moonless night.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta). Cypripedium elegans Reichb., Page no 341.

Platanthera exelliana Soó.

The plant

Terrestrial. Whole plant 12 to 30 cm in height. Tubers two, elongate, cylindrical, tapering to both ends, with stout long roots arising from the base of the stem. Base of the stem sheathed. Stem cylindrical, with a solitary, oblong to oblanceolate, acute leaf, tapering to a short-sheathed base, 4 to 7 cm long and 1.5 to 2 cm in width. Above the solitary leaf, another solitary, long, erect, 3 to 5 cm long and less than 1 cm in width lanceolate bract is present. Flower many in a spike longer than the stem, ridged.

The Flower

Flower large, about 1.5 to 2 cm across. Sepals equal, elliptic, dorsal diagonally erect; lateral spreading and curved back. Petals lanceolate, as long as the dorsal sepal and arranged perpendicular to it. Lip lanceolate, fleshy, pointing downwards. Spur curved, longer than the ovary, cylindrical with broadened apex. Floral bract erect, lanceolate, longer than the decurved ovary, diminishing in length to the apex of the spike, arising from the lower portion of the ovary.

Sepals green. Petals and lip yellowish green. Spur pale yellow. Floral bract green.

The Pursuit

This is a very rare species of the region, with its habitats spreading currently across Central and East Himalayas as well as China (Sichuan and Yunnan).

I too was surprised with its features and elusive nature, and made a point to put extra efforts to find it. Along with my alpine work I was concentrating above 10,000 ft in the monsoon months. We were camped in a small hamlet along the roadside. The area was totally cut off from any communication network and even electricity. Those days were the hardest of all days in the alpine region. Every day we trekked many kilometers in very hostile climatic conditions and wildlife activities. But, each day produced some exiting discoveries, which made us really happy at the end of the day. An elderly neighbour told us about two lakes at the top of a flat mountain a few kilometers from there. One day we decided to trek up there. The ascent up the mountain was so tiring. It took more than 4 hours to climb around 1200 m. At the top of the mountain, the entire topography changed to a different world. It was like a plateau with more than 15 km in length and some 8 km wide. The entire plateau was covered with hardly 1 to 1.5 m high Rhododendrons. The forest floor was full of many plants. The two lakes were not so large; they were just 40 to 50 m wide and about the same in length. As a tradition in the Himalayas, we burned some incense and prayed there and trekked ahead. We found many species of flowering plants all over the region. But something special was still missing. All those we came across were the ones I had found earlier from various regions of the Himalayas. After around 3 km of trekking I noticed an area that seemed like a small valley, which was full of Rhododendron trees. The dense growth of the plants made me think that there will be no plants inside those thickets. Hence, we moved ahead along the side of those trees. As we trekked ahead I was glanced my eyes on the forest floor for something unusual. As we were about to the transverse the last part of those thickets I found a robust plant of less than 1 ft in height. The strong features of that small plant attracted my attention and I crawled down under those thickets to it. To my surprise it was this species, just a single specimen with 7 buds of which three were in bloom. It was such a surprise that a plant believed to be very elusive was growing as elusive itself – deep inside a thick thicket of Rhododendrons. As the thickets were dense it was not at all possible to be near to the plant to make sketches or photograph it. We were left with no options other than removing the plant and bringing it out to the open area. Before doing that, we searched the whole area by crawling under those thickets on wet moist moss covered ground for about an hour in search of more plants. My assistant was able to locate 3 more plants from there, but with withered flowers. Then we decided to gently remove the plant we spotted first and made sketches and photographs from it and replanted it back at its original position. Even though I had removed a plant from its habitats on a few occasions only, each time I pay much attention not to damage it in any way. Every time, I made it a point to replanted it on the same location.

Later on, in the last year of my alpine work I found 2 more plants of this species but was not able to visit them while it was in flower.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta).Habenaria oligantha Hook., Page no 325.

Platanthera juncea (King & Pantl.) Kraenzl.

The Plant

Terrestrial. Tuber solitary, ellipsoid with many fibrous hairs. Whole plant about 12 to 20 cm in height. Stem two third of the whole plant, very slender but with a comparatively stout base which is covered with lanceolate sheaths, cylindrical; also with a narrow lanceolate erect bract around its upper third portion. Leaf solitary, arising from the base of the stem, oblong to ovate, slightly decurved at its apex, 1.5 to 2.5 cm long and about 1.25 cm in width, narrowed at its base to a tubular sheath, three veined. Flower many in a spike, laxly arranged.

The Flower

Flower very small, less then 1 cm across. Sepals unequal, ovate to lanceolate; dorsal broader and shorter than the lateral, diagonally erect; lateral spreading diagonally. Petals ovate, as long as the dorsal sepal and connivent with it to form a hood. Lip longer than the sepals and petals, entire, its apex minutely decurved. Spur very small, cylindrical with broadened apex. Floral bracts narrow and erect, smaller and arising from the lower portion of the erect and twisted ovary.

The whole flower is pale green with the outer surface of the sepals a darker shade, spur pale green and translucent.

Platanthera juncea (King & Pantl.) Kraenzl.

The Pursuit

A very slender ground species of the region. A publication came out with a documentary evidence of this species; even though the photograph was not providing the details of the plant and its flowers. Hence, I was so eager to find it from its natural habitats and document it. During the first year of my alpine region work I was eagerly looking for this species. King and Pantling’s mention of its altitudinal range – 11,000 to 12,000 ft, made me put this species on the check list of “those to be found” by the second month of the alpine hunt. In the first month I was relatively working on lower altitudes, between 8,800 and 11,000 ft. As it was my first alpine hunt each day was hectic with too much trekking and lot of finds. The main road of the region was made by carving out the mountain, hence it’s both sides got supporting brick walls. Shrubs and climbers start appearing on those walls along with the first showers of the season and will get fully covered in a few weeks. I had found and documented many rare plants growing inside those shrubs and climbers. Hence, every time when I get opportunity I survey those walls. On a routine survey I found four very slender orchid plants from a thick bushy region on the walls. Its solitary leaf prompted me to think it could be this species. However, the plant was so small to properly identify. I marked the area and waited for its growth. In the coming days I visited the location twice to confirm its presence. However, on the third visit I found the entire shrubs and climbers on those walls were removed by the government officials residing there. They found a couple of poisonous snakes in their residential area and cleared all forest undergrowth from the region including my rare find. I was really disappointed with the loss but was determined to find it again.

That year went without its find. In the second year of my alpine work, I particularly visited the same location from where I found this species on the previous year. To my surprise there were again four slender plants almost at the same location. Fearing another miss due to some unforeseen reasons, we fenced that area. Every few days I visited the location to make sure no destruction has happened to my finds. Within the next week itself I was able to confirm its identity. After many visits and cautious wait I found them in flowers and made this beautiful photograph. Surprisingly on the very next day of my documentation of those four plants, heavy rains triggered landslide and the whole stretch of those supporting wall crashed down destroying all the floral population for around some 20 m length.

Reference:

King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898). The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. (Calcutta).Habenaria juncea King and Pantling., 315 – 316.