Rare Himalayan flower, Heem Kamal, Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand, Uttaranchal, Uttarkhand, India, Indian wild flowers

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AMA HHF06 Heem Kamal COTTONY SAUSSUREA Saussurea gossypiphora D Don Compositae In 1921 on a British Everest Expedition A F R Wallaston observer that the cone like flower head of this herb has an aperture at the top through which the bumble bee visits and presumably pollinates this flower Seen on screes in the alpine Himalayas from Kashmir to Tibet at 4000 to 5000 metres this is one of the most amazing of Himalayan plants It is a strange looking perennial herb with a short hollow stem 10 to 20 cm long covered by rough cottony or woolly grey indumentum and a spongy fusiform root The leaves are narrow 12 to 15 cm long pinnatisect sharply toothed like the thistle leaf the bases are shiny and black Many almost cylindric 1 to 2 cm long flower heads bloom from July to September and are deeply embedded in a matted woolly covering the involucral bracts are also woolly covering purple florets the cotton wool covering is an additional insulation against extreme cold The fruit is achenial about 7 mm long 4 5 angled and compressed with a scanty scabrid pappus

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Size: 3362px × 5102px
Location: india
Photo credit: © Dinodia Photos RM / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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