Onwards through Deqing area

    The next day we continued north along route S318 into the borderlands close to the border of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.   We never actually got to Tibet but were within Yunnan province in a the Deqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.  We first stopped at a roadside tea house where we had Tibetan tea, which is good except for the salt part.   Salt is normally added along with yak butter but I tried the unsalted version, not being a fan of salty foods or drinks in general.  We then continued on this winding highway and got to the leeward (dry) side of the mountains which would be the northeastern slopes I assume as the rains come mainly from the south.  The vegetation changes there to a more dry adapted one.  Despite the dryness, this is where we witnessed an actual avalanche.  It began with a boulder coming down, our driver halted and waited and sure enough more rocks and soil came down while we watched. We had to wait a while until it was deemed safe enough to continue but it wasnt an overly long wait.  Many alpine flowers were seen in genera like corydalis, salvia, along with some special woody plants like more rose species and a beautiful dwarf contoneaster.   We had lunch in a small town in the Deqen area before heading towards Shangrila to the east.  

Tibetan Tea at a stop along the roadside.  

Of course I looked around to see what interesting moths might be around outside.  Nothing too thrilling but this one was nicely patterned. 

 Another rather small moth with black spotted wings

This impatiens resembles the one we saw earlier on the mountain with the big landslide but seemed a bit different.

We pulled off the main road onto a dirt road and found this black fruited Rosa species. 

This could be the Tibetan peach, Prunus mira.  It has long leaves which is typical of that species andif it is P. mira it can live a very long time unlike the typical cultivated peach trees. 

Halenia elliptica is a biennial that is not uncommon in the western regions of China.   It can come in various shades of blue to whitish.   It is a member of the Gentianacace family which is quite diverse in China. 

This seems to be a species of Erigeron but one can never be sure when seeing a plant for the first time I haven't even seen in a book before. 

Arisaema species, they really do seem to be everywhere in Yunnan. 

Cute little thing, my best guess is perhaps an Ajuga species. 

This pretty legume looked more like something I'd expect to find in South Africa than China but here it is.  Pretty flowers on a small decumbent plant. 

A rather delicate Microseris sp most likely.  

Sometimes we came across interesting fungi.  Xiao Han knew which ones are edible, I dont recall if this one was.  Edible mushrooms are a big deal in Yunnan and China in general.  

Gentiana cf tibetica is not one of the showier species but has large flower/seed clusters. 

A species of Vigna with a Fragaria (strawberry sp) of some sort

A pink flowered Silene species

An Eupatorium species that looks a lot like our native Joe Pye Weed

A nice bright Delphinium species growing in a disturbed area with the all too common Mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris) right next to it.   The latter is used in Chinese medicine and sometimes eaten but that is not entirely safe as it does contain a toxic compound or two. 

Selaginella on the rocks

A different selaginella species that resembles what are sometimes called Rose of Jericho (S. lepidophylla).  There is also a gesneriad, probably Corallodiscus lanuginosus was plentiful in this other spot along the roadside. 

Another nice fern, maybe in the genus Pyrrosia. 

This appears to be a small Campanula species if not an Adenophora. 

Flowers of Corallodiscus languinosa.   It is called the Blue Stone Flower on account of its rigidly creased leaves and probably the facts that it grows on mossy rocks and can dehydrate to survive drought. 

Probably a Rosularia sp, its something in the Crassulaceae that looks more like a Mexican Graptopetalum sp. 

A dwarf species of Polygonatum. 

Fern and mosses and succulents

A small woody species of Serissa or maybe Leptodermis.  Cute little shrub.

A large Onosma species with reddish flowers.  It was quite prickly with bristly hairs.

Amazing they can put electical stuff up on a mountain that obviously slides rather often. 

Lacang Jiang (Mekong) river carrying lots of sediment.  

Lizard species trying to hide under dead grass but not doing a great job of it. 

Incarvillea species.  This species was quite robust and liked the drier conditions where it grew. 

Lamiaceae species, reminds me of a Teucrium perhaps?

A small flowered species of Salvia. This particular area was near the road but drier than the last spot that the Corallodiscus grew. 

Ceratostigma sp on a ledge overlooking the road

Indogifera species.  This one was a very flat mat for the genus. 

A nice large fern species that grew near the road, it seems to favor spots where water might drain. 

The avalanche we witnessed, I have a video of it on my youtube channel of the same name as this blog. 

The avalanche gave me a chance to get out of the car while we waited for the local folks to tell us it was safe to go.  Found this nice dryland corydalis all along the road. 

The aftermath.  Now its safe to go. 

Finally we get to Deqen (Dechen in Tibetan).  Its a small town, on many shops there was Tibetan and Mandarin script though the latter was always larger. We got food at local restaurant, it was quite good and we were hungry. 

Some buildings were quite pretty 

Back on the road we find interesting flower associations, a Cremanthodium and Gentian relative. 

Nice Astragalus (?) species. 

Lonicera species with bright orange fruits.  The foliage did have a fungal problem that did not seem to affect the vigor of the plants.

Epilobium species, much like our native Fireweed but a smaller growing species.   

Another Astragalus sp or a different color variant.

Taraxacum species, likely yellow flowered. 

Potentilla species

A gorgeous large flowered Salvia, probably S dolichantha was quite common in this area near the road.

Further off the road downhill was a  stream with Primula sp in seed.  

 Caltha species in seed

Cardamine species in water

Impatiens species growing at the creek edge

Anaphalis species

Taraxacum species, looks similar to T officinalis. 

Iris species in seed.  This one liked moisture too. 

Agastache sp?

More of that nice clumping Aster sp we saw earlier in our trip

A Sambucus sp maybe?

More primulas in the creek

Nature creates the best gardens even in human disturbed areas

An interesting trilingual sign near a ramp leading to a public bathroom

We wondered what this place was with all the Tibetan prayer flags and small buildings.  Of course I was more interested in the plants which follow but later on we deduced this might be a place where Tibetan "Sky burials" happen.  Fortunately none were happening while we were there. 

We decided, or at least two of us did, to explore for plants in an overgrazed area nearby.

A cute tiny white Gagea species among a legume of some sort

Wikstroemia scytophylla is a leggy but pretty small shrub that is toxic to cattle. 

A black flowered Swertia species.  I suspect it is an annual or biennial.  

Cotoneaster species.  This is the prettiest species I have ever seen and it was laden with fruit. 

This is surely Rosa sericea which I do grow, though my plants were grown from seed from Sichuan.  

A species of Caragana.  Might be pretty in flower but is quite prickly.

A tiny flowered Wikstromeria or Daphne species

The only species rose we saw in bloom on our trip, also in fruit with nice bright orange hips. 

The highest altitude we hit while driving as we turned eastwards towards Shangrila which will be the subject of the next post. This was higher than when I got sick on a mountain earlier but we were in a car so I wasn't moving and altitude varied along the road so it didn't seem to bother me.  We did at one point almost end up in a car wreck when a car tried to pass another car and our driver was doing the same but our driver quickly got back in our lane so everyone was fine even if a bit rattled.   

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.