IN THE LAND OF THE BLUE, YELLOW, AND

RED POPPIESPlant Hunting in Sichuan and

Qinghai, ChinaJohn and Hilary Birks

Where is the Land of the Blue, Yellow, and Red Poppies?

How did we come to be there and who were we with?

How did we travel around?

What was known about the area previously?

How did we identify plants from there?

Sichuan and Qinghai

Vegetation and floristic zones

Mixed deciduous-coniferous forest 1900-2600 m

Coniferous forest 2600-3000 m (-3500 m)

Sichuan-Qinghai Plateau 3500-3800 m

Sub-alpine vegetation 3200-3900 m

Alpine vegetation 3900-4200+ m

Pedicularis – a Sichuan and Qinghai wonder

Last memories

Where is the Land of Blue, Yellow, and Red Poppies?

How did we come to be there and who were we with?

AGS Expeditions tour – July 2001

Christopher Grey-Wilson and 19 others, mainly horticultural friends – Ken Beckett, Chris Sanders, Chris Bailes, Rosie Steele, Sally Pettit, Rebecca Dunbar, Lord and Lady Skelmersdale, David Hazelgrove, Mike Grant, et al.

1 Chinese guide (Aster) and 4 Chinese drivers and assistants from Yunnan.

How did we travel round?

Near Somang Qu 2200 m

Near Longriba 3200 m

1 bus, 1 mini-bus, 1 lorry

What was known about the area previously?

Ernest 'Chinese' Wilson (1876-1930)'A Naturalist in Western China'

Reginald Farrer (1880-1920)

'The Rainbow Bridge'

Roy Lancaster – 'A Kind of Fairyland'

Peter Hutchinson and Peter Cox – 'The Red Grasslands and the Scarlet Meconopsis'

Phillip Cribb – 'Sichuan, home of Lilium regale'

Wolong and Balang Shan – last stronghold of Panda and mountains around have been a great attraction to explorers

Robert Fortune (1812-1880)

Arthur Bulley (1861-1942)

George Forrest

(1873-1932)

Frank Kingdon-Ward (1885-1958) 'Land of the Blue Poppy' (1913)

George Sherriff

(1897-1967)

Frank Ludlow

(1886-1972)

Phillip Cribb – 'Wolong, Hardy Plants in the Panda's Last Stronghold'

How did we identify plants there?

China flora 31,141 species 12% world's flora

3407 genera, 300 families, 15,000 species endemic

(N. America 17,000 species; 3,000 species endemic)

1958-2004 Flora Republicae Popularis Sinicae (FRPS)

80 volumes, 126 parts

312 Chinese botanists

1980sTranslation into 25 volumes by 2010

To date:

9 volumes + 8 volumes of illustrations

RBGE Mark Watson, Robert Mill and Wang Hong, Eona Aitken, Douglas McKean, Lawrie Springate, et al.

Primula John Richards

CorydalisMagnus Lidén

Monographs on Iris, Orchids, Meconopsis, Geranium, Lilium, Koenigia, Codonopsis, and Rhododendron

Flora of Bhutan – some help

Identified 380 species, ignored grasses and sedges

Major problems with ferns, Anemone, Rosaceae shrubs, and Astragalus.

Many plants overlooked. Much time spent travelling.

1:1,500,000

Our Route

July 8 – July 23 2001

Sichuan and Qinghai

Some of the largest Chinese provinces.

Mountains up to 7000 m in Min-Shan range.

Low-lying basin around Chengdu and Yangtze River at 500 m rises up to the 'Tibetan' Plateau at 3500 m to the north and west, with 7000 m mountains around the southern and eastern edges of the Plateau.

Mountains and Plateau to north and west of Chengdu sparsely populated by Tibetan and Qiang people.

Also some Han Chinese and Hui, Muslim descendants of Genghis Khan.

Heavily cultivated in lowlands, some sub-tropical trees and shrubs survive grading with altitude into temperate forest, coniferous forest, Tibetan Plateau, and alpine areas.

Climate

Very few climate stations in the area

Elevation

Mean annual

temperature

Precipitation

Chengdu 508 m 16.2ºC 947 mm

Songpan 2828 m 5.7ºC 790 mm

Barkam 2664 m 8.7ºC 761 mm

Sichuan-Qinghai Plateau – temperate climate with maximum precipitation in June-August

Little spatial variation in precipitation. Major gradient is of decreasing temperature with altitude

Altitudinal transect of vegetation and flora

1900-2600 mMixed deciduous – coniferous forest

2600-3000 m (-3500 m)

Coniferous forest

3500-3800 mSichuan – Qinghai 'Tibetan' Plateau

3200-3900 m Sub-alpine zone

3900-4200+ m Alpine vegetation

Mixed coniferous-deciduous forest zone 1900-2600 m

Valley of Heroes, Wolong, 2200 mWolong cabbage patches, 2200 mTilia chinensisAcer pectinataSalix magnifica 'Yunnan Magnolia'Sorbaria aitchinsoniiRosa moreseiRosa souleiSpiraea micranthaActinidia kolomictaClematis intricataClematis potaninii var. soulieiClematis tangutica

Lonicera purpurescensLonicera cf. tomentellaHydrangea heteromallaPaeonia veitchii (pale form)Paeonia veitchii (deep form)Anemone tomentosaSpiranthes sinensisJiuzhaigou lake, 2100 mJiuzhaigou tufa waterfalls, 2000 mParis polyphyllaArisaema dilatatumArisaema concinnumFragaria nubicola

Mixed coniferous-deciduous forest zone 1900-2600 m

Gentiana syringeaWolong Pitiao River side valley, 2400 mCardamine macrophyllaSemiaquilegia ecalcarataHypericum forrestiiCorydalis flexuosaCorydalis sp. nov.Saxifraga rufescensGentiana rubicundaLilium duchartreiWolong Panda ReservePandasPandas

Coniferous (Abies-Picea) forest zone 2600-3000 m (-3500 m)

Pitiao River and Balang Shan, 2800 mPhaius delavayiCypripedium tibeticum (photographed in Bhutan)

Codonopsis convolvulaceaLilium pumilumNotholirion bulbiferumMin Jiang valley, 2300 mLilium regale (photographed in Bergen)

Min Jiang valley, 2200 mIncarvillea sinensisCheilanthes argentea

Hong Yuan cultivation, 2500 mVillage near Longriba, 2600 mVeronica ciliataMimulus tenellus var. platyphyllusDicranostigma leptodumLigularia liatroidesBridge to Taopingyin village, 3100 mTaopingyin village, 3100 mTaopingyin village, 3100 mTaopingyin village washing, 3100 mTaopingyin village market, 3100 mRoadside fruit stalls, 3100 m

Coniferous (Abies-Picea) forest zone 2600-3000 m (-3500 m)

Songpan City Wall, 2800 mSongpan Gate, 2800 mSongpan fruit and vegetable dealerSongpan vegetable shopSongpan meat shopTebiit Mountion Man Restaurant, Yellow Dragon Monastery, Huanglongsi, 3500 mSaxifraga cernuaHuanglongsi tufa pools and Min-Shan range, 3500 m

Sichuan-Qinghai Plateau 3500-3800 m

Longriba plateau, 3650 mPlateau locals, 3600 mPlateau locals, 3700 mCamp 3, 3300 mLocals visiting Camp 3Camp 4, 3600 mPlateau meadows, 3500 mStellera chamaejasme (white-yellow form)Stellera chamaejasme (white-red form)Stellera and yaksYoung yak, 3600 mYak camp, 3600 mYak camp, 3510 m

Yak camp and disturbance, 3510 mYak turf-fuel, 3500 m Plateau grassland, 3750 mPotentilla stenophyllaHedysarum sikkimensisAstragalus yunnanensisAstragalus tanguticusTaraxacum sikkimenseIris farreriDianthus longicalyxTrollius damp meadows, 3800 mTrollius pumilusRiver alluvium, 3600 mLigularia purdomiiDamp meadows, 3500 m

Sichuan-Qinghai Plateau 3500-3800 m

Cremanthodium bruneopilosumAjuga ovalifoliaPhlomis (= Lamiophlomis) rotataIncarvillea compacta var. quinghaiensisMeconopsis racemosa (= M. horridula ssp. racemosa)Primula secundifloraPrimula secundifloraGentiana loureiriiKoenigia islandicaCorydalis rheinbabeniana

Tibetan shop, 3800 mShuajingsi village, 3800 mShuajingsi village, 3800 mJuden Buddhist chortens, 3410 mKirti Gompa monastery, 3500 mKirti Gompa monasteryKirti Gompa monasteryKirti Gompa door and gatePrayer wheels, Kirti Gompa'Shawm' player, Kirti GompaAba monastery (Ser Gompa), 3500 m

Sub-alpine vegetation 3200-3900 m

Balang Shan, Wolong, 3200 mVeratrum macrophyllumVeratrum nigrumIris chrysographesPleurospermum benthamiiCorydalis Sect. ElataeLeontopodium calocephalumDolomiaea souliei var. mirabilisParnassia delavayiGeranium moupinenseLigularia cymbuliferaZhegu Shan, 3900 mRhododendron heath, 3900 mRhododendron rupicola

Rhododendron nivaleRhododendron przewalskiiFritillaria unibracteataFritillaria bulb collectorsGentiana pudicaPrimula nutansPotentilla – Spiraea heath, 3800 mPotentilla parvifloraPotentilla dahuricaPotentilla dahurica x P. parvifloraMeconopsis integrifoliaMeconopsis integrifoliaMeconopsis punicea

Alpine vegetation 3900-4200+ m

Min-Shan range, 3900 mStone Mountain, Qinghai, 4000 mMeconopsis quintuplinerviaGentiana leucomelaenaAndrosace brachystegiaSoroseris hookerianaRanunculus dongrergensisLeontopodium stracheyiCremanthodium discoideumPrimula gemmifera var. gemmiferaPrimula amethystinaMeconopsis henriciiMeconopsis lancifoliaMeconopsis sinomaculataCorydalis curviflora

Trollius farreriGentiana hexaphyllaHuanglong Si limestone screes, 3900 mArenaria kansuensisArenaria roseifloraMicroulia bhutanicaAmitostigma monanthumAndrosace bisulcaAndrosace selagoDraba glomerataSaxifraga saxatilisCorydalis melanochloraCorydalis trachycarpa

Alpine vegetation 3900-4200+ m

Saussurea medusaHuanglong Si alpine tundra, 4000 mCodonopsis nervosaKoenigia pilosaMeconopsis rudis (= M. horridula spp. racemosa)Meconopsis rudis (= M. horridula ssp. racemosa)Primula sikkimensisPrimula violaceaParaquilegia anemonoides cliff, 4200 mParaquilegia anemonoidesPotentilla pendulaSaxifraga unguiculata

Pedicularis – a Sichuan and Qinghai wonder!

Pedicularis artselaeriPedicularis dunnianaPedicularis densispica ssp. densispicaPedicularis densispica ssp. schneideriPedicularis rhinanthoidesPedicularis tortaPedicularis davidii ssp. davidiiPedicularis davidii ssp. pentodonPedicularis longiflora var. tubiformisPedicularis tricolorPedicularis przewalskiiPedicularis humilisPedicularis decorissima (photo: Mike Grant)

1. The Alpine Gardener – September 2002 – 70(3)

Last Memories

Also www.uib.no/bot/qeprg/china

2. Unexplored mountains

Balang Shan Min Shan

3. Meconopsis poppies

M. racemosa

Blue

Yellow Red

M. integrifolia M. punicea

4. Sichuan accommodation

Hongyuan Hotel

Public WC

5. Sichuan food

Hongyuan

Wolong

Hongyuan

6. Sichuan children

Deng Zhanzwa

Hongyuan

7. Sichuan people

Photos: C. Grey-Wilson

8. Sichuan culture

Somang Qu

Chanzhusi Chortens

Songpan

Sir Gompa, Aba

9. Wolong pandas

10. Chinese (Yunnan) field crew

11. Tibetan monks

Young trainee monks Monks

John the Novice Goodbye!