Dr. Rock's Proposed Expedition to Nepal
J. F. Rock, New Delhi, India
Members of the American Rhododendron Society will he surprised to receive this letter from me here in Northern India. Instead of coming West as I had planned, 1 flew back to London and after a brief stay, flew on to New Delhi.
I am gong to Nepal and Northern Kashmir for the summer and autumn. I expect to make a reconnaissance in northern Nepal and next year return to Nepal to collect in the North along the Tibetan border.
I plan to revisit and explore the regions where Wallich had his native collectors collect plants, but no seeds. The place has not been revisited by collectors only once since his days there in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and I hope to secure a lot of interesting material.
My plan is to enter Nepal this year to take a look around and get acquainted, and then go back next spring to Gosainthan which is 11,000 ft. elevation. There is a monastery where I shall stay and from which place I shall visit all the best collecting grounds. I shall be able to collect all the plants in flower and fruit and secure seeds of all these of horticultural value.
If any members of the American Rhododendron Society are interested please let me know, c/o American Embassy, New Delhi, India.
I am sorry I could not come and visit you and to see your gardens and visit with members of the Society.
The Royal Horticultural Society of London has commissioned me to write a 600 page book with 200 plates and a map on the plant geography of West China and East Tibet, especially the alpine regions of those areas.
With kindest regards and hoping to hear from you I remain with best regards.