Botanizing in NE India and Eastern Bhutan

Kelly Dodson May 2004

Speakers Biography

Last fall, Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken found R. macabeanum at 12600 ft. up on Mt. Saramati in the almost-never visited Nagaland. They discovered hillsides of other rare R.s in Arunachal Pradesh and cooked their dinner on R. hodgsoni wood. Sue operated a nursery in her native Vermont; Kelly was a child propagator at the Rhododendron Species Garden. He and Sue have a nursery in Port Townsend specializing in chaos and good intentions.

Jacqueline Bradbury, the 10 minute speaker, is a member of the Victoria Rhododendron Society and landscape gardener.

From the comfort of Garth Homer chairs we were able to marvel at the perilous plant hunt trekking of Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken. They gave us a most interesting and humourous talk with fine slides from the plains of Assam to the soaring heights of Saramati . We felt immediately as if we were on the trour with Kelly modelling his trekker's fashionable quick dry clothing. He forgot to wear his sweat-induced bandana round his forehead but the leech putis were just the thing to protect his legs, though he said other parts of his body were then fair game. The first part of the talk began in Nagaland, a state in extreme northeastern India, bordered on the west and north by Assam state, on the east by Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), on the north by Arunachal Pradesh state, and on the south by Manipur state. Nagaland is one of India's smallest states. The Naga Hills run through it, with Saramati as its highest peak at 12,600 ft. The terrain is mountainous, thickly wooded, and cut by deep river valleys. Nagaland has a monsoon climate with generally high humidity; rainfall averages between 1800 and

2500 mm a year!

As they " four", Sue, Kelly, Steve Hootman and an experienced Seattle plant traveller Garth, were there during September and October the monsoons made life wet. Many of the tribal hills people sported rifles including their guide, whose gun was of vintage flintlock variety, and probably no match for the AKA's used to protect their interests plus the guards’ at border crossings The thick trunks of arboreum, not like the sturdy trunks we admire in the established gardens in Britain, but of great massive trees of a hundred feet, and hillsides of macabeanum, flinckii astounded, as well as choice exotics such as Arisaema consanguineum and blue Vanda orchids. The traditional woven shawls in red and black spun wool make the hill tribe people distinctive. From the huge hollow log drum to communicate and the satellite dish nearby, shows the changes being brought to such remote areas of the world; this part of Nagaland is seeing its first westerners. On their home entrances murals of head hunting and the horns of the cattle ostentatiously display signs of wealth. The trek became described as "Adventure Tourism", even by the local guides. The trekkerees suffered from hyperthermia, vertigo attacks crossing wood slatted suspension bridges where wood fell from under their feet or their jeep as it too crossed, the driver from the plains of Assam shouting his fear as his vehicle swayed dangerously in the crossing.

The scenes of waterfalls and a tree fern sixty feet tall showed a lushness of verticality. Although deforestation is taking place shrubs of grande are resprouting. We saw a huge terrestrial edgeworthii, vacciniums, neriflorum and the beautiful kesangiae ( named after the Queen Mother of Bhutan) and a breathtaking dalhousiaie rhabdotum in flower. The yak culture prevailed. Yaks were being fed griffithianum branches. Trade salt for yak butter and cheese were part of the economic barter in the lives of the local people. Yak butter is wrapped in rhododenron leaves for transport. A few difficulties such as blood sucking leeches, a few poisonous snakes, boiled bee larvae and yak butter in tea made for minor problems of the plant trekking kind. It was the distances to be covered in rainy slippery vertical conditions that were the more hazardous.

Their party met up with Ken Cox from Glendoick Scotland, who was collecting seed from big leaf rhododendrons for hybridizing R. fulgens, hodsonii and flinckii. Ever present was the refrain "must hurry!" as they descended down the steep slopes and up to the distant village on the other side of the valley. After flying to Bhutan, they walked over carpeted varieties of gentians. These were good trails compared to Nagaland with hillsides covered in rhododenrons bhutanense, wightii and flinckii. Their pony trains burdened with all their Western gear passed near empty pony trains of the local people. Kelly was well looked after. He said he lost sixteen pounds in his trek but he still found the going strenuous although his sense of humour carried him through. One local man laughed and said Kelly reminded him of Buddha which gave him an added stature! Prayer flags fluttered in the Himalayan winds which blow so fiercely that great boulders sit atop the roofs to hold them down. They visited holy sites, the original being a cave in the high Himalayas; their guides delighted at returning as pilgrims to this holy spot. Bright and gilded paintings of Buddha decorated the interiors and gave comfort to the pilgrims who made this arduous trip to pay homage. Along the way Aconitum hookeri (a dwarf monkshood) and alpine primulas, meconopsis grandis and the rare primula capitata enchanted the collectors. It seemed they encountered hospitality and curiosity in their travels. Opening their tent in the morning saw a surge of people staring in!

All in all, for a group of people in Victoria, it was an exciting and stimulating evening. We would like to thank all concerned, including the Hardy Plants Group and Carol Dancer for bringing Kelly and Sue to our last meeting of the Spring of 2004.

Jacqueline Bradbury’s 5 minute introduction to the evening was short and stimulating. Her subject was companion shrubs for rhododendrons and eschewing slides, she waved a variety of favourite fronds. Camellias are the most common evergreen candidates, and a newer Lonicera Lemon Beauty is gaining attention, but Jacquie’s favourites are Mahonias and Hollies. Of the latter, Ilex Gladys Gee shows a spectrum of green through yellow and prickly Hedgehog is properly sturdy. As hollies are dioecious, consorting male and female plants are necessary for fruiting. But for something really different, Jacquie cited two plants from Kelly Dodson’s Poulsboro nursery: Actaea rubra forma neglecta – Dollseye – a superb shade plant with small poofy white flowers and large showy clusters of white fruit (also known as Baneberry); and

Xanthorhiza simplicissima, ‘Yellowroot’ – bare stems tipped by smoky purple flowers in late winter, with leaves from brilliant red to maroon in full sun and rich yellow in shade. For deciduous shrubs, Enkianthus campanulatus for fall colouring is popular with its white-blue bells; Korean lilac Syringa palabiniana is a profuse spring bloomer, whose tiny purple flowers turn white. So race to your nursery supplier of these gems!