I agree with Dr Singh that this is likely to be *Pedicularis bifida*. One always needs to be ultra cautious with such a taxonomically difficult genus as *Pedicularis*. But this appears fairly distinctive with, as 'Flowers of Himalaya' states, "distinguished by its entire, not lobed, leaves which are narrow-elliptic with coarse rounded teeth and by its pink flowers... the upper lip with a slender straight beak enlarged below into a curved base 2-3 times as long" Flowers in a lax leafy spike. They give an altitudinal range of 1000-2700m. From Himachal Pradesh to Bhutan.
Stewart noted that in FBI its range was given as from Kashmir to Sikkim (not much access to Bhutan in 19th Century) but he had only seen it in the Mussorie Hills. There is a line drawing of it in 'Flora Simlensis' but under a synonym of *Pedicularis carnosa*. Collet found the plant at Shimla and Mushobra. There is no photo in 'Flowers of the Himalaya'. I first came across it when shown a pressed specimen made by Narsim, who lived beside the Naryanawamy Ashram in Kumaon (close to the border with Nepal). Narsim arrived here aged 17, from S.India, long before the Ashram was built. I met him in 2000 by which time he was an old man. He had botanised for 50+ years. He lived along what was the old pilgrimage route to Mt. Kailash. So the location of this plant fits well. On Monday, 3 October 2016 18:44:12 UTC+1, raj wrote: > Dear Members, > > Wild flower for ID. Photo taken near Sirkha camp Aug 12, 2016. Altitude > around 7500 feet. > > -- > With Regards, > Narendra Joshi > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
