In spite of the difficulties and enforced changes to the plans, the expedition was still an outstanding success. The areas we collected in were not as rich as those we planned to visit, but the personal safety of our team and the approximately 40 porters, cooks and Sherpa guides was paramount and could not be compromised. In the Gosainkund and Langtang areas we were granted full permission to collect and met most of the aims of the expedition, including the molecular samples for the Microsatellite Project at RBGE. Listings of the living and preserved collections with determinations are given under Collections.

Because of the problems encountered, the total number of collections made was not as high as planned. In Spring 2002 the H.M. Goverment of Nepal announced the abandonment of the Restricted Area system, a system that gave us major problems in getting our collecting permits. It is now hoped that the situation with the Maoist rebels in Nepal will be resolved, and our original expedition plans can be brought to fruition at a later date.

Preserved Collections
A total of 397 collections of higher plant herbarium specimens were made, 4 sets of each. Two sets were donated to herbaria in Nepal: the national Herbarium (KATH) at Godaveri, Botany Department of Tribhuvan University, both in Kathmandu. One set is deposited in Edinburgh, and the fourth set will be used for exchange with another herbarium specialising in the classification of Himalayan plants. The process of identifying the the material to species level has been completed, and now (July 2002) data from the field book is being entered into the RBGE Collections' database (within BG-BASE). Labels for the Herbarium specimens will be generated from the database, and the full collection information will be linked to the material in the living collections via the unique accession numbers. When ready, sets of herbarium labels will be sent to the two Nepalese institutes housing duplicates, and our own set will be mounted and incorporated into the herbarium.

The two primary plant listings covering our study area are the Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal (J.R. Press, K.K. Shrestha & D.A. Sutton, 2000. The Natural History Museum, London), and Flora of Langtang & Cross Section Vegetation Survey (S.B. Malla et al., 1976. Department of Plant Resources, Kathmandu). We were pleased that several of the collections gathered from the Langtang were not included in the Flora of the Langtang, and so could be new records for the area. However, this Flora was produced 25 years ago and we would expect that many of these new records would have been found by botanists in the intervening years. Of greater interest are the records that were not included in the recently published Annotated Checklist of Nepal. These are:

    Aphanamixis polystachya (Wall.) Parker, Meliaceae - ENEP 53
    Artemisia myriantha Wall. ex Besser, Compositae - ENEP 136
    Berberis thomsoniana C.K.Schneid., Berberidaceae - ENEP 209
    Lasianthus biermannii King ex Hook.f., Rubiaceae - ENEP 106
    Ligusticum elatum C.B.Clarke, Umbelliferae - ENEP 472
    Selinum vaginatum (Edgew.) C.B.Clarke, Umbelliferae - ENEP 194, 288, 470
    Senecio royleanus DC., Compositae - ENEP 279
    Aster ageratoides Turcz., Compositae - ENEP 338
    Pentapanax fragrans (D.Don) Ha, Araliaceae - ENEP 511

A total of 500 herbarium collections of bryophytes were made on the expedition, including 2 sets of duplicates of most, and more in some cases. Although it was attempted to collect all species seen, most effort was made on liverworts, particularly Marchantiales. The specimens were identified to genus and over 180 have now been named to species. Labels have been printed and some specimens have been sent on loan to other specialist for identification. As DGL had previously collected in 1991 and 1992 in many of the places we visited, new records were fewer than might otherwise have been expected. Amongst the thalloid liverworts, the most interesting collections were four species of Asterella, abundant fertile material of Cryptomitrium himalayense in the Langtang valley, several collections of the rare Wiesnerella denudata and good material of Athalamia sp. Amongst the leafy liverworts, the most interesting find was Apotreubia nana in two places at high altitude at Gosainkund, a member of the ancestral Order Treubiales which has been collected very few times in the Himalaya. Other noteworthy species were Delavayella serrata, Gongylanthus himalayensis, Southbya gollanii, Pleurozia purpurea and Herbertus kurzii. Amongst the mosses, the most noteworthy species identified so far is Didymodon rivicola. This was also collected in the Langtang valley in 1992, but has not yet been reported from Nepal.