Plants and I

I tagged along with my cousin and a team of taxonomists, Life Science students, plant enthusiasts and basically people who knew about plants to Dochula last Sunday. And as you might have guessed already, I was the black sheep. My plant knowledge is as good as zero and if you ask, I can barely name ten plants. I didn’t study biology in High school because I wanted to concentrate on maths and also, I wanted free periods. I don’t regret about this decision but sometimes I just wish for a better connection with plants.

Stuck a Taraxacum behind my ears

My cousin Dechen, had told her friends that I am a “nature lover” in the idea of creating a bond with the team and when one of them asked me how I got my interest in plants, I quite humored myself. I told them that I came across various plants while studying Landscape Architecture which is in reality, just few shrubs and trees I’d gone through the internet. But I got them all nodding in agreement, so everyone was good.

The actual reason why I joined the hike, besides wanting to learn about plants, was to go to the famous Dochula-Lam Pelri Trail many tourists talk about. We followed the Ancient Lam Pelri Trail, also known as Phajo Drugom Zhipo’s trail. Phajo Drugom Zhipo was a 12th-century saint from Tibet who spread Buddhism to western parts of Bhutan.

Veronica

Grows in isolation, about the size of a pen

The group of people I was hiking with, stopped every one minute and picked up plants and flowers and said their names and features. They knew every little green thing on that soil, starting from the huge trees to the tiny grasses on their foot, and those names were all scientific. I know. They were geniuses! I felt stupid among them but I totally liked it. It felt good to experience nature for once with people who are passionate about it and knew about it very well. Some of them spend their weekends in the woods, experiencing transitions of seasons moving among various geographical zones and enjoying them. It made the world of building and engineering sound noisy and chaotic for once. 

Sambucus
(Picture Courtesy: Dechen)

My experience from that one Sunday hike connected me more to the ecosystem we exist in, and I realized how lucky we are to have it balanced. The world is experiencing major climate change and shifts in the weather patterns due to which people and animals are losing their homes and even lives. Some people say that there is no solution to this but the least we can do is to plant trees, or at least reduce cutting them. But what’s even more important I think is to know them, to connect with them in ways that can create a healthy relationship among the species.

Oreochis
(Picture courtesy: Dechen)

Iris, abundant growth

Bhutan’s biodiversity amazes the whole world and it is even more amazing to have people studying them. I think everyone of us should know nature, the beautiful trees and plants that surround us, provide us fresh air to breathe and food to eat.

We came across few orchids on the way which, I’ve been told is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. yay.

A picture of me taken by Dechen