Snow and ice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact, Ruapehu is a name that includes a number of peaks, of which the tallest is Tahurangi (2797 m), whereas a striking pointed peak is Girdlestone (2658 m). Initially, this mountain was named Little Matterhorn Peak by Hubert Earle Girdlestone (1879-1918), a New Zealand explorer and war hero, who was killed in France in 1918. His friends installed a plaque on the mountain in 1922, renaming it Girdlestone Peak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drooping juniper (Juniperus recurva) is native to the Himalaya, from northern Pakistan eastwards to the Yunnan Province, south-western China, growing at altitudes between 1,800 and 4,600 m. The specific name is from the Latin recurvo (’bent backwards’), like the common name referring to the drooping branches.

Foliage and wood of this species are burned as incense at Buddhist and Hindu shrines, and near the Pangboche Buddhist Monastery in Khumbu, eastern Nepal, is a sacred growth of this tree, depicted on the page Religion: Animism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In January 2020, my friend Niels Andreasen and I passed an ice-covered part of the road leading up to the high mountain Hohuan Shan. Several cars were stranded here, as the drivers had no experience with such roads, and they speed up far to much to pass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek gala (‘milk’) and anthos (‘flower’), referring to the white flowers of the genus, whereas the specific name nivalis (‘of the snow’) refers to the early flowering of common snowdrop. The name snowdrop first appeared in 1633, in the book Great Herball by English herbalist John Gerard (c. 1545-1612). (In the first edition of his book, Gerard had named it the timely flowring bulbus violet.) The word snowdrop may be a translation of the German word Schneetropfen – a type of earring, which was popular in those days. Other common English names include February fairmaids, dingle-dangle, Candlemas bells, Mary’s tapers, and, in Yorkshire, snow piercers. (Sources: M. Bishop, A. Davis & J. Grimshaw 2002. Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus. Griffin Press, and R. Mabey 1996. Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson)

An old legend relates that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, they experienced dark and cold for the first time, and Eve sat down on the cold ground and wept. An angel appeared before her, caught a snow flake in his hand and blew on it. The water drop fell to the ground, and a snowdrop appeared. This gave comfort to Eve, who began to have new hope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chortens, prayer flags, and other Buddhist subjects are described in depth on the page Religion: Buddhism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting this bird, are shown on the page Animals: Young animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In spring 1991, together with Lars Nørgaard Hansen, I undertook a very interesting hike to this valley, related on the page Plants – Plant hunting in the Himalaya: The rhododendron valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species has two colour morphs, a snow-white phase, which has given this species its common name, and a bluish-grey phase, referred to as ‘blue goose’, which has given it the specific name caerulescens, meaning ‘bluish’. A picture, depicting the blue morph, is shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the United States and Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poplars are native to the major part of the Northern Hemisphere, from subarctic areas southwards to Mexico, North Africa, Iran, the Himalaya, and China.

These trees are deciduous, and several species display brilliant yellow foliage in the autumn. Some examples are shown on the page In praise of the colour yellow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from a French word, aigrette, meaning ‘little heron’. In 1782, the specific name, thula, was given to this bird by a mistake by Chilean Jesuit priest and naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), who didn’t realize that in fact thula was the local Mapuduncun name for the black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus).

Other pictures, depicting this species, are shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the United States and Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek plektron (‘cock’s spur’) and phenax (‘imposter’, i.e. ‘replacement’). This probably alludes to the shorter claw on the hindfoot of these birds, compared to their close relatives, the longspurs (Calcarius). The specific name is from the Latin nix (‘snow’) and -alis (‘like’), of course referring to the plumage of this bird.

Previously, snow buntings were placed in the bunting family (Emberizidae), but recent DNA research has concluded that they, together with the longspurs, form a separate family, Calcariidae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to its beautiful flowers, it quickly became a popular garden plant, which is today cultivated in many parts of the world. In China, it is rare and threatened in the wild.

It was described in 1901 by German botanist Paul Graebner (1871-1933), who named the genus Kolkwitzia in honour of Richard Kolkwitz (1873-1956), professor of botany at the Free University of Berlin. The specific name means ‘lovely’.

Its Chinese name is 蝟实 (wèi shí), where wèi means something like ‘a row of pointed things’, presumably referring to the inflorescences, in which the flowers are arranged in rows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tibetan snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus) is widely distributed in Central Asian mountains, from Tajikistan southeast along the Himalaya to Arunachal Pradesh, and thence northwards through western China to Qinghai, and from there westwards to the Kunlun Mountains. It avoids desert areas of the Tibetan Plateau.

Other pictures, depicting this species, are shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the Himalaya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One very striking mountain is the double-peaked Ama Dablam (6812 m), which is sacred to the local Sherpa people. In Nepali, the name means ‘mother’s necklace’. The long ridges on either side of the highest peak are likened to the arms of a mother (ama), spread out to protect her child, whereas the hanging glacier on the mountain is likened to a dablam, the traditional necklace worn by Sherpa women.

My late friend John Burke (1951-2010), who joined me on my first hike to the Khumbu, loved Ama Dablam, and he took the striking picture below, depicting Sherpa women, passing in front of the snow-clad peak. Our hike is related on the page Travel episodes – India & Nepal 1978: Journey towards Everest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his fairy tale The Ugly Duckling, Danish poet Hans Christian Andersen relates the fate of a cygnet, which is ostracized by its fellow fowl in a farmyard, where it has been hatched together with ducklings. It has to undergo much suffering, before it realizes that it has matured into a beautiful swan. In reality, this story is about the fate of Andersen himself.

The mute swan is native to northern Europe, from southern Norway and southern Finland, southwards to southern France and Romania, and from Ireland eastwards to western Russia and Ukraine, and with patchy breeding occurrence in the Balkans, Turkey, and Central Asia, eastwards to southern Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China. It has also been introduced elsewhere, including North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

As opposed to the other northern European swans, the whooper swan (C. cygnus) and Bewick’s swan (C. columbianus ssp. bewickii), the mute swan is not very vocal, hence the popular name mute. The name Cygnus is a Latinized form of the Greek kyknos (‘swan’), whereas olor is Latin, also meaning ‘swan’.

The winter is a hard time for these birds, and in severe weather conditions, many succumb to cold and starvation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until recently, the official name of this mountain was Egmont, thus named by British explorer and captain James Cook (1728-1779), in honour of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont (1711-1770), who, as former First Lord of the Admiralty, had supported the search for Terra Australis Incognita.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek hippos (‘horse’) and oura (‘tail’), thus horsetail. In English, it is also sometimes called horsetail, although this name is usually reserved for species of the genus Equisetum. Previously, Hippuris was the only genus in the family Hippuridaceae, but has now been moved to the plantain family (Plantaginaceae).

Common mare’s tail is utilized in herbal medicine for treatment of wounds, stomach ulcers, and internal and external bleeding.

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, showing this species, may be found on the page Animals – Invertebrates: Invertebrates in the Himalaya.

Previously, it was considered a subspecies of the widespread Queen of Spain fritillary (I. lathonia), and some authorities still regard it as such. However, the latter, which is found across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, is strongly migratory, whereas the Himalayan queen fritillary is sedentary.

 

 

 

 

 

This plant has both male and female plants, and female plants were given the name Tussilago hybrida by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), as he thought they were a hybrid between the male plants and white butterbur (P. albus). In northern Europe, female plants are very rare, and almost all populations are clones of male plants.

The generic name is derived from the Greek petasos, meaning ’broad-brimmed hat’, like the common name umbrella plant referring to the very large leaves, growing to one metre across. These leaves appear in two of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, The Ugly Duckling and The Happy Family. The name butterbur supposedly stems from the habit of using the large leaves to wrap butter in during hot weather, whereas another popular name, lagwort, refers to the late appearance of the leaves, which do not usually unfold, until the flowers have faded. ‘Dock’ is a term applied to various plants with large leaves, here used in the popular names flapperdock, blatterdock, and butterdock.

Numerous pictures, depicting this plant, are shown on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

It prefers to grow in damp soil in deciduous forests, often at springs or along streams, on mountain pastures, and along roads. It occurs in the major part of Europe, in Turkey, and in the Caucasus.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’, alluding to the white disc florets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American botanist, chemist, and physician John Torrey (1796-1873) found the colour of this plant so striking that he named it Sarcodes sanguinea, from Ancient Greek sarkos (‘flesh’) and the Latin sanguis (‘blood’), thus ‘the blood-coloured, fleshy one’. The common name refers to the early flowering of this species, which often appears, when snow is still partly covering the ground.

In his book The Yosemite (1912), Scottish-American writer and environmentalist John Muir (1838-1914) writes the following about this species: “The snow plant (…) is more admired by tourists than any other in California. It is red, fleshy, and watery and looks like a gigantic asparagus shoot. Soon after the snow is off the ground, it rises through the dead needles and humus in the pine and fir woods like a bright glowing pillar of fire. (…) It is said to grow up through the snow; on the contrary, it always waits until the ground is warm, though with other early flowers it is occasionally buried or half-buried for a day or two by spring storms. (…) Nevertheless, it is a singularly cold and unsympathetic plant. Everybody admires it as a wonderful curiosity, but nobody loves it as lilies, violets, roses, daisies are loved. Without fragrance, it stands beneath the pines and firs, lonely and silent, as if unacquainted with any other plant in the world; never moving in the wildest storms; rigid as if lifeless, though covered with beautiful rosy flowers.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species and other viburnums are described on the page Plants: Himalayan flora 3, Viburnaceae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Especially beautiful are the male trees in spring, when they display thousands of golden-yellow catkins, which are much visited by bees and bumble bees, as the goat willow is among the earliest suppliers of nectar and pollen. An old Danish name of the species was palm willow. In the days, when people in Denmark were Catholics, flowering branches of goat willow were utilized to adorn the churches on Palm Sunday.

Previously, this species was utilized for numerous purposes. The foliage was a good animal feed, and even today it is utilized as fodder for sheep and goats in certain parts of Norway. The thinnest branches were made into various items, including fish traps and baskets. Today, branches of osier (Salix viminalis) are used, as they are more suitable. Due to the light and tough wood, slightly thicker branches were made into tool handles and fences, the trunk into e.g. furniture.

Wicks were made from the seed hairs, which were also stuffed into quilts and also used as lining in coats. The bark contains tannins and was formerly used for tanning of animal hides. The bark also contains a glycoside, salicin, which was previously used as a febrifuge in the form of salicylic acid, which is today produced chemically.

Most of these old utilizations have today gone out of use. One particular usage takes place in the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, where pegs for the reconstruction of viking ships are made from goat willow wood.

Other pictures, depicting this plant, are shown on the page Plants: Ancient and huge trees.

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting the snow pigeon, are shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the Himalaya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No less than five vegetation zones are represented in this park: subtropical, lower temperate, upper temperate, subalpine, and alpine, containing large tracts of forest, comprising species of oak (Quercus), maple (Acer), Rhododendron, Himalayan birch (Betula utilis), Himalayan silver fir (Abies spectabilis), Himalayan hemlock (Tsuga dumosa), blue pine (Pinus wallichiana), and others. These forests are home to several threatened animals, including snow leopard (Panthera uncia), red panda (Ailurus fulgens), and a gorgeous pheasant, the satyr tragopan (Tragopan satyra).

The Gosainkund Lakes, comprising altogether 54 lakes, are all sacred to Hindus. Every year, during Full Moon in July or August, thousands of devout pilgrims undertake the demanding hike to these lakes to have a cleansing bath in their icy waters. Orthodox Hindus wish to bathe in all 54 lakes.

My adventures in this area are related on the pages Travel episodes – Nepal 2009: Across a snow-covered pass, and Plants – Plant hunting in the Himalaya: Around sacred lakes of Shiva. Hinduism is dealt with in detail on the page Religion: Hinduism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Himalayan silver fir (Abies spectabilis) can grow to very large proportions, to 50 m tall, with a trunk up to 1.5 m across. This species is very common in the Himalaya, found from Afghanistan eastwards to Myanmar. It is widely used locally, its wood for construction, carpentry, furniture, paper-making, and firewood. The foliage is utilized medicinally for asthma, bronchitis, colds, and rheumatism, and is also burned as incense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nest of this species is built near the seashore, lined with down, which the female plucks from her own breast. This soft down has been harvested by people for hundreds of years, used as filling in pillows, quilts, and jackets. This harvesting was done with no harm to the birds, as it took place when the ducklings had left the nest.

The scientific name is derived from the Greek soma (‘body’) and erion (‘wool’), and the Latin mollissimus (‘very soft indeed’), all referring to soft down feathers. The name eider is a corruption of the Icelandic name of the bird, æðarfugl, which is derived from the Old Norse æðr.

In Northumberland, southern Scotland, the eider duck is known as the cuddy duck, named after Saint Cuthbert (c. 634-687), a monk, bishop, and hermit of the early Northumbrian Celtic church. While on the Farne Islands, he instigated special laws to protect the ducks and other seabirds, nesting on these islands.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of the Italian word soldo (‘coin’), thus ‘little coins’, referring to the leaf shape of most species of this genus. Originally, the name was applied by botanists in the 1500s to the sea bindweed (Calystegia soldanella) due to the circular leaves of this species. However, in 1583 the name was transferred to the snowbell genus by Flemish physician and botanist Charles de l’Écluse (1526-1609), also called Carolus Clusius, who was among the first to study the Alpine flora.

The common name refers to the early flowering of these plants, which often appear in depressions, shortly after the snow has melted.

Dwarf snowbell (Soldanella pusilla) is found in the Alps, the Carpathians, the Apennines, and in mountains of the Balkans. Other species of snowbell are described on the page Plants: Flora of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting rosebay willow-herb, are shown on the pages Plants: Flora of the Alps and the Pyrenees, and Himalayan flora 2.

 

 

 

 

 

In 1994, together with Niels Andreasen and Helle Hansen, I undertook an interesting hike up the Ghunsa Valley, eastern Nepal. During this hike, I had a rather hair-raising experience, described on the page Travel episodes – Nepal 1994: A close call.

One morning, when we were camping at Lhonak, Upper Ghunsa Valley, we woke up to a snow-covered landscape. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed in mountains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Xinjiang, where at grows in meadows and on open slopes at high elevations, up to around 3,600 m.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek arktos (‘bear’), in allusion to the fruits, which are burs, full of hooks somewhat similar to bear claws. Of course, the name burdock also refers to the burs, dock being a term applied to various plants with large leaves. And burdock leaves are large, in some species growing up to 70 cm long and almost as wide.

The specific name is derived from the Latin nidulor (‘to build a nest’), alluding to the dense cluster of woolly flowerheads.

The obsolete generic name honours Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen (1849-1894), a Russian botanist of German descent, conservator and professor at the herbarium of the Imperial Botanical Garden in Saint Petersburg.