A Day of Exploring the Dulongjiangxiang Mountain and Nearby

  Its past time to continue with the travelog from over a year ago in Yunnan, on this day we travelled along a highway that eventually got us onto and off a mountain.  Its rather remote, we were moving northwest I think toward Deqin which I will get to in another post.  This was another botanically rich area featuring subtropical temperate flora at the lower altitudes and definite temperate flora higher up.  Well watered in summer growth was generally pretty lush and there were pretty asters, impatiens, and as always some mystery plants to be found.  

We begin with a gesneriad among ferns near the Gongdu highway near a location called Danaluo.  

This gesneriad could be quite numerous on mossy rocky slopes and many individuals had purple spots on the foliage. 

A nice yellow flowered impatiens, probably an annual species.  

Going up the nearby mountain we found this nice large flowered Aster species.  The genus Aster, at least here in the US, has been split into several new genera and I don't know if that is the case with the species in Asia but I imagine it might be so. 

One of the many nice species of Edelweiss (Leontopodium spp) that grow in China.  It was a bit rainy at this location but there was much to see. Among the moss covered wet rocks there were lots of dwarf woody plants and seedlings of other woody species as well as other perennials. 

The mosses create a perfect nursery for seedling rhododendons and other species.  

This little Gentinella species was hard to photograph with my iphone. It was atiny thing growing amid the mosses. 

This might be an Anaphallis species, we were a bit early for the flowers. 

A rather majestic thistle, perhaps in the genus Cirsium, had nodding flowers.  

Another brilliant blue fruited bush, probably in the Ericaceae but who knows for sure.

A species of Parnassia was quite abundant in wet areas, this one definitely liked being near water. 

A closer view of the Parnassia, with both fresh flowers and a mature seed pod.  I imagine that rain must splash the seeds out of the open pods into nearby areas and water, if moving, could disperse them to new locations. 

This bright red fruited scandent bush really has me stumped.  Have no idea what genus it is in, it somewhat resembles a lonicera but they would never have fruiting clusters like that.  

This Aster species had smaller but more numerous flowers in flat topped heads than the other species we saw in the same area.  It appeared that it could also spread underground to form clumps.  A very ncie species that would look good in a garden if it were to prove growable. 

A species of Strobilanthus not too different from a hardy species I have grown for years in my garden.  This one has wider leaves though and is clearly something different than what I know and grow.  The genus contains both tender and hardy species but isnt that well known in temperate gardens. 

Here a species of Arisaema displays a trifoliate leaf, nearby a species of what I think is a Diosporum is forming seeds in small dangling fruits. 

Nearby another Arisaema leaf is spotted along with a Viola species and not suprisingly, another rhododendron.  Rhododendrons are everywhere in this region and must be stunning when in bloom. 

Cute little yellow viola with attractive foliage.

Again among the rock walls there is always an interesting assemblage of vegetation, here we can find ferns which have faintly striped foliage.  

A nice specimen of the mysterious blue fruited bush.  Maybe a Vaccinium sp?

A creeping species that was quite common on the rocks, it may be a Vaccinium or other genus in the Ericaceae. 

A lobelia species that reminded me of our native L syphilitica but this was a light purple color instead. 

An Arisaema species in fruit amongst the ferns and other plants

These strange coniferous trees dripping with epiphytes and moss give an otherworldly look to this spot on the mountain. 

This Cynoglossum species wont ever be a garden wonder but its flowers were cute even if rather if small.  And its a good blue color. 

After coming down the mountain we continue our journey.  Tunnels have been dug through some of the mountains to make travel easier.   It frankly amazes me that they have done such a good job with infrastructure in this remote region.  

A hard to photograph Adenophora species with hanging white flowers along the road cuts. 

 Perhaps the same Vaccinium species we saw earlier (or not) but here in full bloom.   Rather cute I would say. 

Yet another fern, this one was a bit larger and actually more than one species is in the photo. China amazes with its fern diversity.   I don't know why its fern diversity is so much higher than that of the US, but I would guess at least two factors might be important.  China largely escaped the glaciations that covered much of North America and no doubt exterminated a lot of our flora, and also limestone formations seem to be much more common in China and many ferns like to grow on limestone. 

Begonia sp, this one probably tolerates at least some degree of frost in winter. 

A van full of Tibetans iirc got stuck in the rut along the road edge.  Lucky someone comes by with a large machine to try and pull them out with the bucket.  It did work even if the van surely got a few dents.  Gotta be careful on these roads especially when wet, let alone be ever vigilant for the frequent landslides in the area. 

A real nice find, an Aeschynanthes species in flower.  In summer (most in cultivation bloom in winter), in an area that surely experiences frost.  

This must be one of the most beautiful impatiens we saw.  It probably requires a very wet habitat for growth along with not too hot temperatures.  It grew right along a stream so was constantly wet. 

Yijia and Xiao Han standing next to the impatiens and the small stream it was practically growing in. 

A bit further up the road was this waterfall.  One could stop and go up to it but the rocks were very slippery.

A wall near the waterfall dripping with a pink and white flowered Begonia species.

Impatiens arguta liked the wet conditions near the base.

The yellow flowered impatiens was here too but not as lush as the first one we spotted earlier by the stream. 

Dicentra (now in another genus I think) scandens growing amid the lush wet vegetation

This rock wall along the road appeared to be purposefully planted with a Cymbidum species in the crevices.