Wild Flowers of Pakistan

I contributed photographs of 4 species (on a complimentary basis), which the authors needed to complete the above book, published by Oxford University Press (Karachi) in 1995, with funds supplied by Dr T.J. Roberts - aren't these eccentric foreigners so helpful towards the study of the plants of the Himalaya and bordering regions. Pakistan, like Nepal, is to be commended, in its willingness to collaborate with foreign botanists, botanical gardens and individuals like Dr RR Stewart, Dr TJ Roberts and Chris Chadwell (although I have only been to Pakistan on one occasion and although the clients of the botanical tour I led would certainly have described the trip as a 'plant hunting' expedition, the opportunity to return has not arisen).

In fact, I do know quite a bit about the flora of Pakistan, thanks to Dr Stewart giving me his final, personally annotated copy of the, 'ANNOTATED CATALOGUE OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF WEST PAKISTAN* and KASHMIR' when I visited him in a home for retired Presbyterian Missionaries in the early 1980s. *After partition of India, Pakistan was split into 'West' Pakistan, which became Pakistan as we know it today and 'East' Pakistan, which became BANGLADESH.

It is worth mentioning that the young Pakistani Pathan botanist who had be assigned to join the tour I led to Pakistan in 1987, proved invaluable. Charming (my clients thought he was wonderful) and highly intelligent, he knew the flora around Rawalpindi impressively well. I am not accustomed to finding too many active field botanists in this part of the world. This was useful for the clients who were interested in all the plants they saw. I do not know the flowers found on the plains of India/lower elevations at all well. Once we moved into the hills and mountains, I fared much better, as many of the species we encountered were familiar to me from my travels in Indian-controlled Kashmir.