The stately Chir pines at Sitlakhet

Pinus longifolia also called Pinus roxburghii

I could not get enough of this lower Himalayan pine.  And since it is named after the Scottish botanist William Roxburgh, who spent many a year in Madras, I shall ramble a bit about it.  He called it Pinus longifolia and it finds a place in his Flora Indica.  The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew have a digitised version of the three volume compendium on India's flora, and these two pictures are from there.  It seems to be that he was reporting on the tree from his observation in Calcutta, rather than the Himalayas.



The bark is so characteristic, deep red and fissured, and whenever I had the opportunity I would kind of touch and feel it with wonder.

The tree is used by locals to extract resin and oil via these cuts which form a herringbone pattern

The needle-like leaves grow and fall in threes.  the cover of dry pine leaves on the forest floor discourage growth of other trees except the rhododendron and the banj oak, which is what I found around these trees.

It is the dominant species of the area, and is quick to recover and re-grow after the common and frequent summer forest fires.  When we drove up the hills in end May, we saw many forest fires, with the inner cores of these pine trees glowing and alight.  However, when we came down three weeks later in the middle of June, the frequent heavy rain showers had put all the fires out.

The undergrowth is rich with grasses and wildflowers which I have not yet identified.

Maybe some variety of Imperata

A glorious yellow that would catch your eye

These beautiful wildflowers were seen all over.

My eyes trace the trunk.
Blue skies above.