Yunnan - Land of the Southern Cloud (2)

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Yunnan was a rich hunting ground for plant hunters in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of our familiar garden plants found here is clematis montana

We also saw a good red-flowered form of enkianthus chinensis

This small tree caused a lot of head-scratching on the trip as no-one could figure out what it was. It has subsequently been identified as dipentodon sinicus, and is the only member of its genus and not closely related to anything else. It is also on the Red List as being endangered in the wild, but is now being protected on Nature Reserves in China

We were now entering rhododendron country. Spring had arrived late this year, so many of them were still in flower. These included rhododendron maddenii

Rhododendron microphyton

Rhododendron xanthostephanum

And rhododendron neriiflorum

At ground level, we found roscoea praecox

And primula sonchifolia

Another shrub, deutzia purpurascens, was common and flowering well

By now the weather was starting to deteriorate

But we still had time to stop at Zhziluo. Originally, this was the local main town but had been abandoned when a newer one was built down in the river valley. But now people were moving back into the long-abandoned houses

Paris polyphylla is one of many native plants used in Chinese medicine. Sadly this is almost impossible to find now in the wild, plants having been dug up and planted in shade tunnels for later use

To be continued ….

• 4 Aug, 2017
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