Cicer microphyllum

  • Cicer
Common name: Himalayan Chickpea
Afghanistan (N); China (N); Xinjiang Uygur ; Xizang Zizhiqu; India (N) ; Himachal Pradesh ; Jammu-Kashmir ; Punjab; Uttar Pradesh; Nepal (N) ; Pakistan (N) as per ILDIS;

 

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Fwd: Cicer microphyllum : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (4)

There appears to be no entry for this in eFI.  Cultivated ‘Chick-pea’ (Cicer arietinum) is grown in Ladakh.
There is a description and line-drawing in ‘Flowers of the Himalaya’- Afghanistan to W.Nepal @ 3300-4800m on dry slopes in the Tibetan borderland areas and on irrigated ground.
Stewart knew it as Cicer songaricum (though the nomenclature & taxonomic treatment is rather confusing) from N.Pakistan & Ladakh @ 3000-4500m.
I am familiar with it from the Suru Valley & Zanskar. A pressed specimen was collected by my team during the University of Southampton Ladakh Expedition in 1980 (a duplicate was deposited in the University of Kashmir herbarium) from a S-facing mountainside, dry rock, scattered grasses in dense, spreading clumps. The standard petals were pale mauve with purple striations, inner parts white; keel darker mauve; ht: to 60cm.
‘Flora of Lahaul-Spiti’ found it common on sandy slopes at Chotadhara
There appear to be no records for it in Nepal in the ‘Trans-Himalayan’ zone there.
I attach a few images scanned in from mediocre slides taken in the 1980s but they do illustrate some features albeit not in close-up detail.
Hopefully, a member of this group can take some better photos in Ladakh (where it is quite widespread) or Lahoul in the years to come.

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Fwd: Cicer microphyllum Benth. in Lahoul : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (4)

Here with the first FULL entry for this wild check-pea.
Stewart knew this as Cicer songaricum but had no specific records for Ladakh within his Catalogue but added one collected by Koelz as a hand-written annotation to his final copy which he presented to me when I visited him in California in 1983.
Flowers of the Himalaya describes this species with a line drawing by Ann Farrer.  They say dry slopes in the Tibetan border areas and on irrigated ground @ 3300-4800m from Afghanisatn to West Nepal.
Flora of Lahaul-Spiti record it as common on sandy slopes at Chothadhara.
I first came across this during the Southampton University Ladakh Expedition, 1980. triplicate sets of pressed specimens were gathered incl. one for University of Kashmir. The collection was made at Rangdum on a S-facing mountainside, dry rocks, amongst grasses,
spreading clumps; standard petals mauve with purple striations, inner part white, keel deeper mauve; hairy (glandular); ht: to 60cm. 
Botanical tours from UK found this at Darcha and Patseo in Lahaul.
The images attached were taken by the late Krishan Lal @ 3100m, Chattru, Lahul, H.P.