Pedicularis bicornuta

Pedicularis bicornuta Klotzsch, Bot. Ergebn. Reise Waldemar 109 1862. (syn: Pedicularis eximia Watt);
,
Pakistan (Kurram, Chitral, Swat, Hazara), Pakistani Kashmir (Gilgit, Deosai, Baltistan), Jammu & Kashmir (Dras, Zanskar, Poonch, Kashmir), N-India, Afghanistan (Badakshan, Baghlan, Kunar / Nuristan, Parwan), Nepal as per Catalogue of Life;
.
Common name: Horned Lousewort
.
The flower appendages in this species exhibit rolling up of corolla to the extent that the flowers become ball like in appearance an adaptation most suited to minimize mechanical damage by the high velocity winds present in the area of its occurrence like Spiti valley
.
 /wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pedicularis%20bicornuta%20on%20a%20Kashmir%20%20meadow%20-Oleg%20Polunin-.jpg
Fwd: Pedicularis bicornuta in Kashmir : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (1)
Have decided to share another Oleg Polunin special image – taken as a slide in the 1970s I think.
Such shots are certainly inspirational.  Let us see if any of the photographers amongst us can match this or do better almost 50 years later and with much more advanced equipment.
I do have a number of other images incl. digital of this species, which I plan to post in the future.
I have come across this species in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh as well as Kashmir.
Seen instances on the internet where this has been mistakenly identified as P.hoffmesteri in H.P.
Given how common it is in Kashmir, I am surprised this is the first posting from there.

.

References: