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| Bos grunniens |
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| Yak statues on Mi La Pass today (July 9, 2019) in the snow at 5000 m. |
That said, they are a large part of the economy and food chain of the Tibetan people, who simply can't have enough of them! They are celebrated in almost every large town with monumental statues (including a string of golden yaks in the river flowing through Lhasa I didn't have time to photograph).
For miles and miles we drove through virtually flowerless fields that were cropped low...until Hans noticed bright color: in between cultivated fields, a little strip of ungrazed riparian meadow persisted: literally dozens of plants that likely grew elsewhere once were here in profusion!
There were several species of Pedicularis,
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| Pedicularis longiflora |
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The queen of the meadow was an orchid that resembles Dactylorhiza, but doesn't seem to match up with any in our references. Dozens of these were scattered hither and yon..
There were several species of gentian, and many kinds of Fabaceae--too many to show right here and now...
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| Delphinium kamaonense and Harry Jans, leader of the wonderful trip to Tibet. More on HIM later... |
This delphinium is what first caught our eye and made us stop--and this would likely survive the yaks since it's poisonous...
One little strip of heaven after untold miles of overgrazing. This isn't a story of Tibet--the same can be said of the American Midwest, most of lowland Europe and much of the so-called civilized world where cities, farms and disturbance have eliminated the rich bounty of wild flowers.
What cost progress? I say "too high a cost".
Yaks are handsome beasts. I wouldn't want one grazing in my neighborhood though. Beautiful yellow flower and of course delphinium blue, things that dreams are made of.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across a reference to Tibetan apples - nyingchi - while reading about Arkansas black apples today. Nyingchi are grown at 10,000 ft (3100 meters) and high UV in the Himilayas. And my first thought was would they grown in Colorado? And my second thought was have you seen them during your tibet trip, and if anyone could get their hands on a specimen it would be you!
ReplyDeletehttps://twentytwowords.com/farmers-are-refusing-to-grow-these-rare-expensive-black-apples-for-a-specific-reason/
Ten thousand feet,j.f., isn't as high as you'd think in the Himalaya: the climate at that altitude is likely milder than Grand Junction. But the apples would likely be hardy here as all apples seem to, and the elevation would be a positive factor in their performance here I'd think. We were there in late June-July: too early to see fruit--and we didn't spend much time in areas where the orchards would be: I shall keep them in mind, however, should I ever have a chance to return.
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