Narrative
HandM 1888 Pyrus sp., Quarryhill # 93.106: Collected on 19.10.93 at c.2145m from a deciduous tree to 8m with flaky bark with grey black plates, elleptic acuminate leaf to 5.5cm x 3.5cm, dull matt green above and glabrous pale green below, doubly serrate/serrulate, pubescent petiole to 1.2cm, bunches of round red berries, frequent in partial shade on light loam on a very steep open north facing mountainside with Aesculus indica, Rhus, Pinus wallichiana, in a narrow north/south ravine above a stream just south of Bathaad in the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, India. Collections HandM 1784 to HandM 1926 were taken between 7th October and 22nd October 1993 by Lord Howick for the Howick Arboretum, Northumberland, and Mr. W.A. McNamara for Quarryhill Botanical Garden, California. All collections were made from wild sources. Field notes were made at the time of collection and were written up the same evening. Wherever possible, herbarium specimens were taken of each collection; one set has been deposited with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, and another set was taken to Quarryhill Botanical Garden. Seed was stored either in paper bags or plastic bags, depending on its condition; it was cleaned on return to the UK and California and stored at 3 c. For the most part identifications were made from 'Flowers of the Himalaya' and its Supplement by Oleg Polunin and Adan Stainton and nomenclature has not been updated. Most of the collections were made in the mountains around Manali, particularly between Rhotang Pass and Manali itself, and Lam Dug to the west; the other area was further to the south-east in the Great Himalayan National Park in the mountains south of Bathaad. It was quite a good seed year and we were successful in finding seed of most woody species with one or two exceptions however, the herbaceous flora areas, and the results from these were disappointing. We were greatly assisted in the logistics of the expedition, which in India can have their own endemic complications, by Capt. Padam Singh formerly of the Indian Army and now responsible for running 'Paddy's Treks', to whom we are most grateful.