Author

GP Jürgens

Ericaceae

Gaultheria griffithiana

by GP Jürgens

Wight

Bh2008 154 P253
Bhutan Trongtsa 2120m, April
Nepal 97 115 P198
Nepal Mewa-Khola 2470m April

Description

Gaultheria griffithiana is an evergreen shrub of the eastern Himalaya and Indo-Burmese mountains, distributed through Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling in India, Bhutan, southern China (Xizang, Yunnan), Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, with nearly seven hundred georeferenced records. It grows in temperate broadleaved and conifer forest, on shrubby slopes, forest margins and rocky banks, often on acidic humus-rich soils. The cited collections at Trongtsa in Bhutan around 2120 m and Mewa-Khola in east Nepal at 2470 m, both flowering in April, reflect its spring anthesis in the montane forest belt.

The plant is a much-branched shrub with reddish, often bristly or glandular-setose young branchlets. The leaves are alternate, coriaceous, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, finely serrate with gland-tipped teeth, glossy above and often with bristly hairs or glands, and aromatic when crushed. The flowers are borne in axillary racemes, each subtended by bracts; the calyx is five-lobed and the corolla is small, urceolate (urn-shaped), white to pinkish, with ten included stamens whose anthers open by terminal pores. The fruit is a small berry-like structure, the capsule being enclosed by the fleshy, accrescent calyx that turns blue-black or dark purple at maturity.

Gaultheria (Ericaceae, subfamily Vaccinioideae) is well represented in the Sino-Himalaya, and this species, named for William Griffith, belongs to the assemblage of wintergreen-scented shrubs containing methyl salicylate. The fleshy fruiting calyces are dispersed by birds, while the urceolate flowers are pollinated by bees. Locally common and ecologically widespread, the species is not regarded as threatened.

Author: Wight · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Middleton's revision of Asian Gaultheria (Ericaceae)

Ericaceae

Gaultheria pyroloides

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson ex Miq.

Bh09 327 P536
Bhutan Tumching, 3700m June
Bh09 328 G535
Bhutan Tumching, 3700m June
Sikkim 2006 130 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Molley 3650m, May

Description

Gaultheria pyroloides is a dwarf evergreen shrublet of the eastern Himalaya and East Asia, with a notably disjunct northern range: its 652 georeferenced records span Japan (JP), China (CN) and the Russian Far East (RU) as well as the core Himalayan countries of Nepal (NP), India (IN) and Bhutan (BT). It is a plant of cool, humid, high-montane to subalpine habitats, growing on mossy banks, in the floor of conifer and rhododendron forest, on humus-rich rocks and at forest margins, generally between about 3000 and 4000 m. The plants documented at Tumching in Bhutan at 3700 m in June and at Molley in West Bengal at 3650 m in May are typical of these shaded, moss-rich montane situations.

It is a low, creeping to ascending undershrub forming mats, with slender, often reddish-bristly stems rooting at the nodes. The leaves are crowded toward the stem tips, more or less rosulate, obovate to broadly elliptic, leathery, glossy, with a finely serrulate, bristle-margined edge and a Pyrola-like aspect that gives the epithet pyroloides. The flowers are usually few, axillary or in short terminal racemes, the corolla urceolate to campanulate, white or pink-flushed, with a five-lobed limb. As in many of its relatives the calyx becomes fleshy and accrescent in fruit, enclosing or partly enclosing the small capsule to form a berry-like, blue to blue-black false fruit attractive to birds.

Gaultheria (Ericaceae, subfamily Vaccinioideae) is exceptionally diverse in the Himalaya, and the prostrate, rosette-leaved species such as G. pyroloides occupy the dwarf, ground-hugging end of the genus's growth-form spectrum. The wide but fragmented distribution into temperate East Asia points to a once more continuous circum-montane forest range. The species is not regarded as threatened, but its reliance on undisturbed, moist forest understorey renders it sensitive to disturbance.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson ex Miq. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Flora of Japan, Airy Shaw and Fritsch revisions of Gaultheria (Ericaceae)

Ericaceae

Gaultheria semi-infera

by GP Jürgens

(C.B.Clarke) Airy Shaw

Bh09 338 P551
Bhutan Jakar 2600m, June

Description

Gaultheria semi-infera is an Eastern Himalayan and Sino-Himalayan shrub centred on the eastern Himalaya and south-central China, with verified records from China (CN) and India (IN); the relatively modest pool of about 87 georeferenced occurrences reflects its restricted montane range, the records attributed to Canada (CA) and Spain (ES) representing cultivated or herbarium-based outliers rather than naturalised populations. It occupies the temperate to subalpine belt, typically between 2000 and 3500 m, growing in open coniferous and broad-leaved forest, on forest margins, among rhododendron scrub and on rocky banks. The plant photographed near Jakar in central Bhutan at about 2600 m in June is characteristic of this habitat, where the species flowers as the early monsoon develops.

It is a low, evergreen, much-branched shrub with wiry, often reddish-bristly young stems. The leaves are alternate, coriaceous, ovate to elliptic, serrulate or bristle-toothed at the margin, glossy dark green above and paler beneath, with the midrib and veins frequently set with stiff appressed bristles. The flowers are borne in short axillary racemes; each has a five-lobed campanular to urceolate corolla, white tinged pink, with the calyx becoming fleshy and accrescent in fruit. The diagnostic feature is the partly inferior ovary, from which the epithet semi-infera derives, so that the swelling fruit is a fleshy berry-like capsule, half-enclosed by the succulent calyx and ripening blue to blue-black.

The genus Gaultheria (Ericaceae, subfamily Vaccinioideae) is taxonomically complex in the Himalaya, where numerous species intergrade and hybridise. The semi-inferior ovary places this species in a distinctive group bridging the capsular and baccate fruit types within the genus. Like its relatives it produces aromatic, methyl-salicylate-bearing foliage and the ripe fruits are eaten by birds, aiding dispersal. Though not formally assessed as threatened, its dependence on intact temperate forest makes it sensitive to logging and grazing pressure across the Himalayan arc.

Author: (C.B.Clarke) Airy Shaw · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Airy Shaw revision of Himalayan Gaultheria, Lu & Fritsch monographic studies of Gaultheria (Ericaceae)

Ericaceae

Gaultheria trichophylla

by GP Jürgens

Royle

Nepal 2001 411 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Barpak 3050m, May
Garh 07 165 ergebnis
India Garhwal Kinkhola 3550m, June

Description

Gaultheria trichophylla is a low, mat-forming dwarf shrub of the high Himalaya, occurring across Nepal, northern India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Myanmar and southwestern China, with disjunct or introduced records from New Zealand, Canada, Chile and France; GBIF documents some 611 collections. It is a plant of open alpine and subalpine slopes, rhododendron scrub margins and humus-rich turf between about 3000 and 4500 m. The photographed material was gathered in central Nepal at Barpak (Gorkha) near 3050 m in May and in the Garhwal Himalaya at Kinkhola around 3550 m in June, on the moist, well-drained, peaty soils it favours under a cool monsoonal climate.

The plant forms compact, prostrate to ascending mats from slender, wiry, much-branched stems that are finely bristly-hairy and root at the nodes. The leaves are small, alternate, crowded, ovate to elliptic, leathery and shining, with a finely toothed, bristly-ciliate margin. Flowers are solitary in the leaf axils, the corolla urceolate to broadly campanulate, pink to pale rose, five-lobed, with a persistent calyx that becomes fleshy in fruit. The fruit is a depressed-globose capsule enclosed by the swollen, berry-like, bright blue calyx, a diagnostic generic feature aiding bird dispersal.

The genus Gaultheria (Ericaceae) is centred on eastern Asia and the Americas, and G. trichophylla belongs to a group of small-leaved alpine species in which the showy fleshy calyx replaces a true berry. Like its relatives it is calcifuge, demanding acidic substrates and forming ericoid mycorrhizal associations. It is widespread and locally abundant across its core Himalayan range and not regarded as threatened.

Author: Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 14, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Airy Shaw and Sleumer monograph of Asiatic Gaultheria

Gentianaceae

Gentiana capitata

by GP Jürgens

Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

Garh 07 393 ergebnis
India Garhwal Meggu Kichatti 3200m, June 
Garh 07 420 ergebnis
India Garhwal Khiar Kutti 3900m, June

Description

Gentiana capitata is a Himalayan annual gentian distributed across Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Pakistan and into Myanmar; GBIF records about 206 occurrences spanning the central and eastern Himalaya. It grows on open alpine and subalpine slopes, grassy meadows, terraced banks and pastures, generally between about 2500 and 4000 m. The photographed plants come from Garhwal, India, at Meggu Kichatti (3200 m) and Khiar Kutti (3900 m), both in June, a setting typical of this small monsoon-season gentian, part of the seasonal herb flora of the western Himalayan high meadows in early summer.

The species is a slender annual with erect, often few-branched, quadrangular stems arising from a fine root system. The leaves are opposite, sessile, ovate to lanceolate, the basal pairs sometimes forming a loose rosette. The flowers are clustered into a dense, head-like or capitate terminal cyme that gives the species its name, sometimes with additional flowers in the upper axils. Each flower has a tubular to funnel-shaped, pale blue to bluish-mauve corolla with five spreading lobes and small plicate folds between them; the calyx is tubular with five teeth. The fruit is a stalked, two-valved capsule releasing numerous minute seeds.

Gentiana capitata Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don belongs to the annual, small-flowered Himalayan section of the genus characterised by capitate inflorescences and plicate corollas. Widespread and locally common across the Himalaya, it tolerates grazed and disturbed ground and is of no conservation concern. As an annual it depends on regular seed production and the brief monsoon season, and it is a familiar component of the high-meadow flora pollinated by insects drawn to its blue flower clusters.

Author: Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Halda: The Genus Gentiana

Gentianaceae

Gentiana depressa

by GP Jürgens

D.Don

Nepal 95 367 P653 ergebnis
Nepal Pansing 3150m, October
Nepal 95 368 P654 ergebnis
Nepal Pansing 3150m, October
Nepal 95 420 P733 ergebnis
Nepal Pansing 3150m, October

Description

Gentiana depressa is a cushion-forming alpine gentian of the Himalaya, native to Nepal, India, China and Bhutan, the c. 301 georeferenced records tracing a range across the central and eastern high ranges. It grows in open alpine turf, on grassy and stony slopes, banks and amongst dwarf shrubs, generally between about 3000 and 4500 m, and is a notable autumn-flowering species. The plant was photographed at Pansing in Nepal at 3150 m in October, a season and elevation typical of the species, which produces its broad flowers late in the year as the surrounding herbage senesces.

It is a low, prostrate perennial forming dense mats, with creeping, much-branched stems clothed in crowded, small, ovate to elliptic leaves arranged in tight rosettes and overlapping pairs. The flowers are large relative to the plant and sit terminally, almost sessile within the leaf cluster, depressing the foliage around them (depressa). The corolla is broadly campanulate to funnel-shaped, pale greenish-yellow to whitish or sky-blue, conspicuously speckled and streaked within, with five short lobes separated by small plicate folds (plicae). The calyx is tubular and five-toothed; the fruit is a many-seeded capsule, often on a short stipe, releasing fine winged seeds.

Gentiana (tribe Gentianeae) is divided into numerous sections, and G. depressa belongs to the Himalayan autumnal cushion gentians of section Frigida and allies, distinguished by their plicate corollas and prostrate, mat-forming habit. The broad pale flowers borne flat against ground level are an adaptation to the cold, wind-exposed late-season alpine environment, maximising warmth for the developing capsule. Widespread and locally common across its range, the species is not regarded as threatened, though specialised cushion-formers are sensitive to trampling and climatic warming.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Ho & Liu monograph of Gentiana

Gentianaceae

Gentiana elwesii

by GP Jürgens

C.B.Clarke

Sikkim2003 164 G219
Sikkim Dzongri 4000m, August
Sikkim2003 165 P220
Sikkim Dzongri 4000m, August

Description

Gentiana elwesii is an eastern Himalayan gentian recorded from Nepal (NP), Bhutan (BT), India (IN) and China (CN), with 100 GBIF occurrences reflecting its restricted high-mountain range. It is a plant of alpine meadows, open turf, grassy slopes and rocky pastures in the upper subalpine and alpine zones, generally between about 3500 and 4500 m. The illustrated material was collected at Dzongri in Sikkim at roughly 4000 m in August, when many Himalayan autumnal gentians come into flower at the close of the monsoon.

It is a small annual or biennial herb with a slender, erect to ascending, often branched stem arising from a basal rosette. The leaves are small, ovate to lanceolate, opposite and sessile, the rosette leaves frequently larger than the cauline ones. The flowers are borne singly or few together at the stem and branch apices; the calyx is tubular with narrow lobes, and the corolla is funnel-shaped to narrowly campanulate, typically blue to purplish-blue, with five spreading lobes alternating with smaller, fringed or toothed plicae in the sinuses, a diagnostic feature of the autumn-flowering gentians. The fruit is a stipitate, two-valved capsule releasing numerous minute seeds.

Gentiana elwesii belongs to the species-rich annual gentians (section Chondrophyllae and allies) that characterise Himalayan alpine grasslands, a group noted for intricate corolla-plait morphology and bee pollination. The Sino-Himalayan region is a global centre of Gentiana diversity, and such narrow-range alpine annuals are valuable indicators of high-elevation grassland habitats sensitive to grazing and climatic change.

Author: C.B.Clarke · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Ho & Liu Worldwide Monograph of the genus Gentiana

Gentianaceae

Gentiana maeulchanensis

by GP Jürgens

Franch.

Bh2008 446 G697
Bhutan Gogona, 3400m April
BH2008 537 G815
Bhutan Limbukha, 2200m April
Bh2008 538 P816
Bhutan Limbukha, 2200m April

Description

Gentiana maeulchanensis is a small annual or biennial gentian of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent China, known from a comparatively modest 60 records spanning China, Bhutan, India and Myanmar. It occupies open meadows, grassy banks, terraced field margins and moist disturbed ground, generally between 2000 and 3600 m, flowering early in the season before the monsoon. The illustrated plants were collected in Bhutan at Gogona (3400 m) and at Limbukha (2200 m), both in April, the latter site lying among the lower cultivated valleys where the species descends to its altitudinal minimum.

The plant is a slender, often branched herb a few centimetres to about 20 cm tall, with a basal rosette and small opposite cauline leaves that are ovate to spathulate with cartilaginous, often whitish margins. The flowers are solitary and terminal or borne in lax cymes; the calyx is tubular with a membranous keel and unequal lobes. The corolla is funnelform to campanulate, blue to pale violet, with five spreading lobes alternating with shorter, fringed or toothed plicae in the sinuses, a defining feature of the section. The capsule is exserted on a stipe at maturity and releases numerous minute seeds.

The species belongs to the predominantly annual Himalayan-Chinese assemblage of small gentians, where it is distinguished by its plical fringing and early phenology. Such early flowering exploits the brief window before competing monsoon vegetation, and the flowers are pollinated by early-emerging insects. With a restricted but stable distribution, it has not been assessed but warrants attention where its lower-elevation habitats are subject to agricultural change.

Author: Franch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Ho & Liu monograph of Gentiana

Gentianaceae

Gentiana nubigena

by GP Jürgens

Edgew.

Sikkim2003 515 G715
Sikkim Yume Samdong 4600m August
Sikkim2003 514 P714
Sikkim Yume Samdong 4600m August

Description

Gentiana nubigena is a high-alpine gentian of the Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau, recorded from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Pakistan, with GBIF documenting around 330 occurrences. It inhabits cold alpine meadows, gravelly slopes, screes, moraine and damp turf in the upper alpine and subnival zones, typically from about 4000 to 5000 m. The photographed plant was found in Sikkim at Yume Samdong at 4600 m in August, flowering at the height of the brief alpine summer; the epithet "nubigena," meaning cloud-born, aptly evokes its habitat in the mist-shrouded high pastures.

The plant is a small, tufted perennial herb forming low rosettes from a short rootstock, with several short ascending flowering stems. The basal leaves are crowded, linear-lanceolate to oblong and somewhat fleshy; the stem leaves are smaller and opposite. The flowers are solitary or few at the stem tips, comparatively large; the corolla is funnelform to narrowly campanulate, pale blue to whitish with darker greenish or blue-spotted bands externally, the five lobes separated by shorter plicate folds (plicae) characteristic of the genus. There are five included stamens and a superior ovary that matures into a stipitate, two-valved capsule releasing numerous small seeds.

The species belongs to genus Gentiana (Gentianaceae), within the large complex of Sino-Himalayan autumn-flowering alpine gentians (section Frigida and allies). Adapted to intense cold, high irradiance and a short growing season, it is a characteristic component of the highest vegetated zones. It is not regarded as threatened given its extensive remote range, but as a strict high-alpine specialist it is sensitive to warming-driven upslope compression of subnival habitats.

Author: Edgew. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Flowers of the Himalaya (Polunin & Stainton), monograph of Gentiana (Ho & Liu)

Gentianaceae

Gentiana pedicellata

by GP Jürgens

(D.Don) Wall.

Nepal 1994 80 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Jaljale Himal
2900m April
Nepal1992 43 W61 ergebnis
Nepal Nundhaki 1600m March 
Nepal 99 227 ergebnis
West-Nepal Gumghadi 2400m, June

Description

Gentiana pedicellata is a small annual gentian widely distributed across the Himalaya and into south-western China and Sri Lanka, with records also from Myanmar, Laos and Bangladesh and a documented base of some 466 occurrences (European and East Asian points largely cultivated or curated). It occupies open grassy slopes, terraced fields, forest clearings and moist disturbed ground over a broad altitudinal span. The images here span eastern Nepal's Jaljale Himal at 2900 m in April, Nundhaki at 1600 m in March, and Gumghadi in west Nepal at 2400 m in June, reflecting a flowering season tied to spring and early summer at middle elevations.

The plant is a slender, diminutive annual a few centimetres to about 15 cm tall, often branched from the base. The leaves are small, opposite, ovate to elliptic, sessile or shortly petiolate and somewhat fleshy, the lower forming a loose basal rosette. The flowers are solitary and terminal on conspicuously elongate, thread-like pedicels (the source of the epithet), the calyx tubular with five lobes, and the corolla narrowly funnel-shaped, pale blue to bluish-white with intervening plicate folds between the five spreading lobes. The fruit is a stalked, two-valved capsule exserted from the persistent calyx, releasing numerous minute seeds.

Gentiana pedicellata belongs to the Gentianaceae and to the annual gentians (section Chondrophyllae), a group well represented in the temperate Himalaya by many small, ephemeral species. Its long pedicels readily distinguish it from related dwarf annuals. The flowers are insect-pollinated, opening in bright conditions, and the light seeds are dispersed passively. Common, weedy and adaptable across a wide range, the species is of least conservation concern.

Author: (D.Don) Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Ho & Liu monograph of Gentiana