Yunnan - Land of the Southern Cloud (7)

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On this day, we set out from Zhongdian to drive round Napha Hai Lake

Traditional houses were dotted along the side of the road

Many had a giant rack outside for drying hay

Although it was a Saturday morning, the local road cleaners were still out working

We stopped to explore a grassy bank alongside a track. Here we found three slipper orchids, cypripedium yunnanense

Cypripedium flavum

And the smaller cypripedium guttatum

I was also interested to see sorbus reducta, a tiny suckering relative of the mountain ash

At the far end of the bank, the climber schisandra rubriflora rambled over trees and shrubs

Further round the lake, we came across primula polyneura

Also the exquisite androsace bulleyana growing on the side of a rock face

We completed the day with a circular walk, taking in a small hidden valley. Here we found yet another spurge, euphorbia stracheyi

And erigeron multiradiatus growing in large colonies

With a late spring, we had not seen any blue poppies, but a whoop from a member of the group alerted us to meconopsis prattii

Trollius yunnanensis grew in boggy ground beside a small stream

And the dark flowers of cynoglossum triste in open grassland

It had been the best day so far for plants

To be continued ….

• 23 Aug, 2017
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