Saussurea atkinsonii

Saussurea atkinsonii C.B.Clarke, Comp. Ind. 226. 226 . ;

Image by D.S.Rawat

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Saussurea atkinsonii C.B.Clarke is an endemic species of alpine Western Himalaya from Uttarakhand to J & K. It is listed in IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants 1997 as ‘Indeterminate’.
I have seen only two populations of this species in Garhwal region at an altitude of 4200- 4500m altitude.
The photograph is a reproduction of my old photograph taken with optical camera way back in 90’s.
I hope it still survives there. 
I have one herbarium specimen from Apharwat, Kashmir at alt of 3200 m

 

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Saussurea atkinsonii (Asteraceae) from Kedarnath area, Uttarakhand : 9 posts by 8 authors. Attachments (2)- around 400 kb each. 

Last month I managed a short trekking to Kedarnath and adjacent area where I saw Saussurea atkinsonii at about 4400m elevation. The snow and rain for the last few days made the colour of flowers a bit dull. However, I was happy to see this plant flourishing well there as this species is not common and listed in IUCN Redlist of 1995. 

It is always exciting to see a rare species after a long time, nearly two and a half decades in this case.
Sharing these pics to accompany my earlier and solitary picture (of 1990’s taken with optical camera) in eFI. 

Thanks a lot … for these rare pics, nice to see….!!  

Always a delight and often a pleasant surprise to see you finding. 

 

 
 

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