Dear All, This is quite difficult for anyone to choose a single out of numerous shots, each recorded with equal interest and dedication, and same is true for me.. The year 2014 brought a lot of opportunities for me to go out and record the plant sightings, starting in February 2014 when I got my much awaited tiny orchid, *Zeuxine streumatica* from Morni Hills...we visited Chakrata in April and again Morni Hills in October.. But my most memorable tour was Kalimpong-Pelling-Darjeeling Tour in May 2014 with Smita Ji, a die hard lover of orchids. There are so many things to tell about the tour, the professionalism of the hotel owners, cab owners and everyone out there, during the time which they call the "peak tourist season"- *abhi to kamana hai*. The cab people are so professionals..they charged whatever they wished, still they tried to travel non-stop..we had to quarrel with almost all the drivers that we are paying a good amount, and we will stop wherever we see any new plant, our sole aim to come here from far away places is to observe plants, but we never succeeded in telling them that we are not tourists.. On the first day, while going from Siliguri to Kalimpong, I observed a large number of tall plants among the grasses, which I immediately took as orchids, but being in a bus I could not get down to see or record them.. During all our days of stay there, we didn't get this orchid anywhere...Smita Ji was desperate to get it but I told her that bamboo orchid was not on any of our usual routes..we have to plan a special visit to that area..what, if I am wrong in id or in relocating the plant, in that case we will waste money and a valuable day, still we decided to go for it.. On the day of my back journey, we planned a visit from Darjeeling to Siliguri from indirect route (not the smallest) which will connect with the same road going from Siliguri to Kalimpong at the Teesta Bridge..this was sheer luck that we got few individuals of the bamboo orchid growing towards this part of the road and I realized that the sizeable number which I had seen during up journey was actually after Teesta Bridge towards Kalimpong and not this side.. On sight of this orchid, Smita Ji was so excited that she dropped the lens cover of her camera, not to be found again, but we were very happy to be successful in the end..
I hope the attached picture qualifies for being my FLORA PICTURE OF THE YEAR 2014.. -- Regards, Dr. Nidhan Singh Assistant Professor Department of Botany I.B. (PG) College Panipat-132103 Haryana Ph.: 09416371227 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
