(C.Norman) M.Hiroe |
Description
Angelica cyclocarpa is a Himalayan umbellifer distributed along the central and eastern ranges from Pakistan and the Indian Himalaya through Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, GBIF documenting 29 occurrences across Nepal, Bhutan, India and Pakistan (NP, BT, IN, PK). It is a plant of moist subalpine and lower alpine habitats, occurring in tall-herb meadows, open forest margins, streamsides and damp grassy slopes generally between about 3000 and 4000 m. The photographed plants from the Zemu Valley in Sikkim at 3450 m in August capture its flowering during the late monsoon, when the lush, herb-rich vegetation of these moist eastern valleys reaches its peak development.
It is a robust, erect, biennial to perennial herb arising from a stout aromatic root, the hollow, ridged stems often purplish below. The large leaves are several-times pinnate or ternate-pinnate with sharply toothed ovate to lanceolate leaflets, the petiole bases expanded into conspicuous inflated sheaths clasping the stem. The white flowers are borne in large compound umbels with numerous rays; petals are obovate with an inflexed apex. The fruit is a dorsally compressed schizocarp with prominent winged lateral ribs and slender dorsal ribs, the rounded, broadly winged outline giving the species its epithet cyclocarpa.
A member of Angelica (Apiaceae, subfamily Apioideae), the species belongs to a complex of Sino-Himalayan tall umbellifers whose generic limits relative to Pleurospermum and allied genera have been repeatedly revised. The combination by M. Hiroe reflects this taxonomic mobility. Its flat-topped white umbels attract a broad spectrum of generalist insect pollinators, and the aromatic, resinous tissues typical of the genus are present. Restricted to remote high-elevation meadows, it is not regarded as threatened.
Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 14, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Umbelliferae of British India (C.B. Clarke)