When trees and trade flourished along the southern Silk Route

• A recent publication by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) documents the flora and landscapes of one of the oldest trading routes of South Asia — the Silk Route, meandering through Kalimpong and Sikkim in the eastern Himalayas and going to Lhasa in Tibet.

Highlights:

• The book, A Southern Silk Route: Sikkim and Kalimpong Wild Flowers and Landscapes, not only documents 1,137 flowering plants, a host of butterflies, insects, birds, and mammals but also the historical significance of the route and the link between botany and politics of the region.
• A key flowering plant documented in the publication and found along the Silk Route is the Windamere palm (Trachycarpus latisectus).
• It is a wild palm species which is facing the threat of extinction with only a few trees left in the Kalimpong region.
• Rhododendron niveum, the State tree of Sikkim, is endemic to the eastern Himalayas and found in the Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary along the Silk Route.
• A threatened balsam species, Impatiens sikkimensis, and Daphne ludlowii, which was used to make paper for Buddhist manuscripts, are also among the important flora found along the route.
• Scientists involved in the publication have documented several such species along the 210-km route from Siliguri in Darjeeling to Kalimpong, Nathu La, and Gangtok.
• The shortest of all these routes from India to Lhasa was the one through Sikkim and Kalimpong.
• The merchandise reached Tamralipti (now Tamluk) port in Bengal and was relayed through sea route to Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and the far East.

Prelims Takeaway:

• India- Central Asia
• Silk Route