Tha Hla (, ; 1916– ?) was a noted

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and forestry warden. He began his career in Burmese forestry around 1934. In 1951, along with

Chit Ko Ko U Chit Ko Ko (, ; 1917–2008) was a noted Burma, Myanmar botany, botanist. He produced a number of papers into botanical research he conducted in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. His 1961 paper on List of Trees and Shrubs, co-written with H. G Hundl ...

he met English botanist Francis Kingdon-Ward and conducted further research into plants in Burma. They set off on an expedition and reached Hkinlum in several days in the alpine region where they could expect to find hardy plants. During the expedition Tha Hla was reported to have got lost whilst searching for new

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s. Several people went out in search of him and preparations begun for a full search in the morning but he returned to camp late in the night. During the trip Tha Hla was also reported to have got a twig in his eye, giving him severe pain for some days.Frank Kingdon-Ward Biography
*Note that the page means 1951 not 1851. Nevertheless, the expedition was a success and the team collected 37 species of Rhododendrons and nearly 100 other species and 1400 herbarium specimens, including the epiphytic lilly '' Lilium arboricola'' and ''

Lonicera hildebrandiana ''Lonicera hildebrandiana'', the giant Burmese honeysuckle, is a species of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, ...

'', a

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

with huge flowers.

References

Burmese botanists 1916 births Year of death missing {{Burma-botanist-stub