BULL. BOT. SURV. INDIA VOI. 9, Nos. 1-4 : pp. 114-l33, 1867 THE GRASSES OF KASHMIR Phcipol Emcflmcfltus, Gordon Coliege, Rawalpindi INTRODUCTION found growing at .19oooft. or a little hzgher. [See In preparing a Check List of the grasses of Kash- 'The altitudinal limits 08 Vascular Plants'' by Grady mir the first problem was. to decide what area to L. Webster in Ecology 42(3), July 1961. p. 587-901. cover. The western boundarv of Kashmir is &s- Not only is thrre tremendous variation in altitude puted and the present Cease ire Line may nor be but there is grenc variation in rainfall. In Ladak permanent. At the present time Pakistan controls there may be as little as four inches of rain in a much of the mcyc rugged mountainous parts of the year while at Srinagar the average is 27 and at old Kashmir State toward the west. Gilgit, Baltis- Gulmarg or Pahlgam about 40. The main Hima- tan, Astor, the Deosai Plains, the lower portions layan range crosses Kashmir and its southern of the Kishenga~lgaand Jhelum River valleys and slopes are well watered by the monsoon in July and much of Poonch, Kotli and Mirpur are no longer August so that they are well forested except where ruled from Srinagar. As all botanical writers be- the forests have been cut down by man or restricted fore 1947 cited their specimens with the old boun- by over grazing. Behind the great range there is daries in view J feel that it would be a source of no monsoon anit the only sizeable trees are culti- confusion to onlit from this list those areas no vated in the villages where irrigation is possible. longer controlled from Srinagar. Because of the great variation in altitude and Unfortunately many early collectors did not lo- rainfall there arc many different climates and habi- cate their collecting sites with any precision. Many tats so that except for field weeds no Poonch or of Thomson's labels merely state "W. Tib." which Jumu plants can be expected in Ladak or Baltistan. usually means either Ladak or Rupshu. His loca- Few plants from Astor grow in Ladak and few Astor lities can, however, often be worked out from his plants grow in Jumu. Because of these facts it is itinerary in his look on his journey of 1847-8 while not good enough to say that a certain plant has serving on the Tibetan Boundary Commission. In been found in Kashmir. In this paper I have used Hooker's Flor? of British India he often states the term Kashmil- in two senses, the political unit merely "Kashmir to Kumaorr" or "Kashmir to of the British days and Kashmir Province which Sikkim." may be roughly described as the watershed of the It is unfortunate that the early collectors were Jhelum al~oveUri, including the main valley not more precise. Jacquemont, the first to visit and the southern slopes of the Himalayan range many places in Kashmir is an exception for he and the northern slopes of the Pir Panjal Range. gives exact localities but his French way of spelling In the text, therefore, J only use the word in this sometimes makes it hard to decide what he meant. sense when giving distribution. Kishtwar, the Falconer's labels also present a great deal of diffi- region on the Chenab, north of Jumu and Badarwah culty for most of them are in Hindi or an almost which are both areas in Eastern Kashmir I have illegible Urdu script which is in most cases still un- left with Kashmir Province when citing specimens. deciphered. If Kashmir had little variation in There is not much difference in the plants of this climate the absen'ce of more accurate labels would general area. Most of the population, most of the not be so important but few areas of equal size can arable land and much of the forest wealth of the be more varied with lakes and deserts, forests and country is founlll it1 Kashmir Province. meadows with some plants growing at an altitude of 1000 ft and others at ~goooft. BOTANICAL REGIONS OF KASHMIR Except for the famous Vale of Kashmir the whole Kashmir as a whole, from east to west can be region is mountainous and. alfitwles range from divided into three regions. The &st begins at the about, rooo ft. in Mirpur and Jumu to 28000 ft. in edge of the Punjab Plains and extends to the top of the &rakorumS A number of species have been the Pir Panjal Range with a number of peaks rising Ig67J STEWART: THE GRASSES OF KASHMIR I IS to 15ooo' or a little higher. This region, as might lands froin Kashmir drops down to Skardo on the be expected, begins with a sub-tropical foothill zone Indus at about 7800'. gradually merging into a temperate zone from Geographically the region enst of Chitral and about 5000 ft. Above this is a sub-alpipe and then north of Astor is called the Gilgit Agency. The an alpine zone above the tree line. chief town is Gilgit and deeper in the Karakorum The second region is the Kashmir Province al- are two s~nallsemi independent state5 wlth their ready mentioned. It lies between the Pir Panjal cwil rulers. Thcse are Hunza and Nagar. In this Range and the inain Himalayan 'Range. The famous allnost inaccessiblc region there are more moun- Vale lies between these two ranges with the valley tains higher than 25,000 ft. than there are in the floor at about 5200 ft. Flowing into the Jhelum Mt. Everest region. The next region with a still Valley from the north at Dome1 is the Kishen- inore 'Tibetan climate and flora is Ballistan. In his ganga river. With a 'similar climate its flora is Guide Dr. Nrve says "Baltistan bounds 1,adak on similar to that toward the east except that the the west and extends for 150 miles on either side number of species decreases gradually from east to of the Indus." The scattered villages are on the west as the rainfall gradually decreases. With main Indus or on the Dras river, thetLower Shy~k lakes, canals and waterways the main valley is the or the Shigar rivers." only part of the country with many water plants. Next we come to Ladak. It is a large tract of The third region is very different. Much of it is country, including Nubra on the Upper Shyok, desert and there is little forest. It is911 drained by Rupshu, Zenskar and Suru. Suru is really only a the Indus and its tributaries. A little monsoon part of Zanskar on the Upper Suru river east of moisture penetrates into Astor 'by the Kamri and Dras. Dr. Neve claims that the Ladak-Rupshu area Burzil Passes from the Upper Kishenganga Valley contains the loftiest inhabited districts in the world. and some moisture gets through to Gilgit by the "No part is below 8000' and a large portion of Indus Valley so that there are some forests in1 Astor, the population live at elevations of from 12 to and in several valleys of the Gilgit Agency. A 15~0ft." The capital of Ladak is Leh which is on number of Punjab xerophytes have followed the the old trade route from Kashmir to Yarkanil in Indus and are found in Gilgit, Skardo, Shigar and Central Asia. Part of Ladak was annexed by China as far as Leh, Ladak in a few cases. Most of tKis only a year or two ago. third zone, however, is treeless and the flora is scanty. THE AUTHOR'S EXPLORATIONS IN KASHMIR The plants of this third region can again be di- I first visited Kashmir, Ladak proper and Suru in vided into three main types. First we have the I g I 2 returning to Srinagar after reentering Kashmir plants of the oases. These are the cultivated plants by the Yarungshan Pass, and the Wardwan Valley. and the weeds in the fields and the plants along the In 1913 we returxed to Kashmir, travelled to Leh, irrigation ditches and streams. Secondly we have crossed Rupshu and went to Simla via Lahul and the desert plaliis, those which are able to survive Kulu. In. 1917 with my wife, I. D. Stewart, who on a very scanty rainfall. Thirdly we have the was also a botanist I entered Kashmir from Pangi, high 'level plants which live on the water from melt- Chamba State, travelled down the Chenab Valley ing snow for although there is very little rain a great to the town of Kishtwar and then entered Kashrnir deal of .snow falls on the high mountains and there proper by the Sinthan Pass. From 1919 on I spent are many glaciers in the Karckorum Mts., the most of my sulllnler vacations collecting in Kashmir, great range to the north of the Indus in the camping in such places as Pal~lgam, Sonamarg, western part of the state. Tragbol, Gulmarg, Fras Nag and Khillanmqrg One of the most interesting regions behind the and making day trips in all directions. main range is called the Deosai Plains, which lie be- Twice I made long trips. One was to Astor and tween Astor on the west and Dras (Purig) to the the Rupal Nullall at the foot of Nangd Parbat. We east. This area is all above the tree line, is cov- ascended the Burzil Nullah crossed the Deosai ered with snow most of the year and is uninhabited. going eastward, crossed the Marpo Lta.