Author

GP Jürgens

Primulaceae

Primula sapphirina

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson ex. G.Watt

BhutanPG2011 299
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4000m June
Nepal 99 688 1 ergebnis
West-Nepal, Pungmo-Khola, July

Description

Primula sapphirina is a diminutive alpine primrose of the high Eastern Himalaya, recorded from India, Bhutan, Nepal and south-western China, with GBIF documenting around 80 occurrences from this restricted high-altitude range. It is confined to the alpine zone, growing on moist turf, mossy banks, seepage slopes and the edges of melting snow patches where the ground stays cool and damp through the brief growing season. The cited localities underline its elevation: Jule-Tso in Bhutan at about 4000 m flowering in June and the Pungmo-Khola in West Nepal in July, both well above treeline, where it flowers as the snow recedes and the short subnival summer begins.

It is a small, delicate perennial herb forming a slender, few-leaved tuft from a short rootstock, often farinose. The leaves are basal, small, spathulate to oblong, narrowed into a winged petiole, with finely toothed or crenate margins. The slender scape bears few small flowers, sometimes solitary, nodding on capillary pedicels; the calyx is tubular-campanulate and the corolla is a clear sapphire-blue to violet, the limb shallowly lobed with a narrow tube, giving the plant its epithet. The species is typically heterostylous with pin and thrum forms. The fruit is a small membranous capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Primula sapphirina, attributed to Hooker f. & Thomson ex G. Watt, belongs to section Minutissimae (the so-called "bird's-eye" alpine primulas), a group of tiny high-elevation species characterised by farinose, cushion-like habit and small blue flowers. As an obligate alpine, it depends on snowmelt moisture and stable turf, and its pollination by small flies and bees occurs within a narrow window. Its restricted distribution and specialised habitat make it sensitive to climate-driven upslope shifts, though no formal conservation assessment has yet been published.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson ex. G.Watt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Richards' monograph Primula

Primulaceae

Primula scapigera

by GP Jürgens

Craib

Sikkim2004 75 P131
Sikkim West-Bengal, Bersay 2600m April
Sikkim2004 313 G563
Sikkim/India Kokchurong 3600m May
Sikkim2004 314 G564
Sikkim/India Kokchurong 3600m May

Description

Primula scapigera is an eastern Himalayan primrose recorded from northern India (Sikkim, West Bengal), Nepal, Bhutan and adjacent China, with 67 GBIF occurrences also reflecting cultivated material reaching Japan. It grows in cool, humid montane and subalpine habitats, on mossy banks, in open Rhododendron and conifer forest and along streamsides, generally between 2500 and 3800 m. The illustrated plants were collected at Bersay in the Sikkim/West Bengal borderland at 2600 m in April and at Kokchurong in Sikkim at 3600 m in May, spanning the species' spring to early-summer flowering across its altitudinal range.

It is a small perennial herb forming neat rosettes of obovate to spathulate leaves that are crenate to denticulate at the margin, narrowed to a winged petiole and often coated beneath, like the scape and calyx, with pale farina. The slender erect scape bears a terminal umbel of a few to several flowers. The corolla is rose-pink to purplish with a contrasting yellow or whitish eye, the limb divided into five obcordate, notched lobes; the plants are heterostylous, producing pin and thrum morphs. The fruit is a small capsule shorter than or equalling the persistent calyx.

The species is placed in Primula section Petiolares, a largely Sino-Himalayan group of farinose, rosette-forming primroses centred on the eastern Himalaya and Hengduan ranges. Within the section it is allied to P. petiolaris and P. gracilipes, from which it is separated by its scapose inflorescence and leaf characters. Like its congeners it depends on insect pollination facilitated by its distyly, and its restricted high-rainfall habitat makes it sensitive to disturbance and warming. Though not formally assessed, it remains a localised eastern Himalayan endemic of conservation interest.

Author: Craib · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Richards: Primula

Primulaceae

Primula sikkimensis

by GP Jürgens

Hook.

Sikkim2011 246
Sikkim Yumthang 3700m, June
Sikkim2011 65
Sikkim Yumthang 3700m, June
BhutanPG2011 810 01 01 scaled
Bhutan / also included: Ligularia fischeri
Bh09 34 P64
Bhutan
Sikkim2003 231 P320
Sikkim Dzongri 4100m 08.2003

Description

Primula sikkimensis, the Sikkim cowslip, is a robust perennial of the Himalaya and the eastern Tibetan plateau, recorded from China, Nepal, Bhutan, India and Myanmar, with 1820 occurrences in GBIF making it one of the better-documented Himalayan primulas. It is a plant of wet alpine habitats: marshy meadows, stream sides, bog margins and damp turf, typically between 3000 and 4500 m, often forming extensive colonies in seepage zones. The Sikkim collections illustrated, from Yumthang at 3700 m in June and Dzongri at 4100 m in August, exemplify its association with permanently moist, cold ground; the caption also notes Ligularia fischeri co-occurring in the same habitat.

The plant arises from a stout rhizome and produces a basal rosette of oblong to oblanceolate leaves, the blades crenate-toothed and tapering to a winged petiole, mealy-farinose at least beneath when young. The stout, erect scape, often 30-90 cm tall, bears a terminal umbel of several to many nodding, fragrant flowers. The corolla is funnelform with a slender tube and spreading limb, pale to sulphur-yellow, the throat dusted with farina; the species is heterostylous, with distinct pin and thrum morphs. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule, somewhat longer than the persistent calyx, releasing numerous small seeds.

Primula (Primulaceae) reaches its greatest diversity in the Sino-Himalaya; P. sikkimensis is the type of section Sikkimensis, a group of moisture-loving, yellow- to whitish-flowered primulas. Its heterostyly enforces outcrossing, and its scent and form suit pollination by long-tongued insects. Widespread and locally abundant, it is not of conservation concern, but as a wetland specialist it is sensitive to drainage, grazing pressure and the desiccation of alpine mires under a warming climate.

Author: Hook. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Primula (A Monograph)

Primulaceae

Primula smithiana

by GP Jürgens

Craib

Bhutan2014 849
Bhutan Thimphu 2230m, May
Bh2008 434 G680
Bhutan Phobjika, 3100m April
Bh09 304 G501
Bhutan Yetong-La, 3000m June

Description

Primula smithiana Craib is an eastern Himalayan endemic distributed across Bhutan, north-eastern India (Arunachal Pradesh) and the adjacent provinces of south-central China, with some 79 georeferenced collections recorded in GBIF. It is a plant of moist temperate to subalpine zones, favouring wet meadows, streamsides, marshy hollows and the margins of conifer and rhododendron forest. The populations near Thimphu at 2230 m in May, in the Phobjika valley at 3100 m in April, and at Yetong-La at 3000 m in June illustrate its altitudinal span of roughly 2200–3500 m, where snowmelt and monsoon humidity sustain the boggy ground it requires.

The species belongs to section Sikkimensis and is a robust deciduous perennial herb arising from a short rhizome with a tuft of fleshy roots. The leaves form a basal rosette, oblong-oblanceolate to spatulate, gradually narrowed into a winged petiole, with a crenate-dentate margin and an efarinose to lightly farinose lower surface. The stout scape greatly exceeds the foliage and bears a single nodding umbel of numerous pendent, bell-shaped flowers; the corolla is pale to deep yellow with a farinose throat, the calyx campanulate and the heterostylous flowers pin or thrum. The fruit is a cylindric capsule slightly exceeding the persistent calyx and shedding small angular seeds.

Within the Sikkimensis alliance P. smithiana is distinguished from the widespread P. sikkimensis chiefly by its yellow, farinose-throated flowers and preference for lower temperate elevations. As a moisture-demanding bog primula it indicates intact subalpine wetland. It has no formal threat assessment, but its restricted range and dependence on undrained marshy ground make it locally vulnerable to grazing, drainage and trampling.

Author: Craib · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Smith & Fletcher monograph of Primula

Primulaceae

Primula strumosa

by GP Jürgens

Balf. f. & R.E. Cooper

Nepal 97 199 P408
Nepal Topke Gholam 3850m April
Nepal 97 164 G321
Nepal Topke Gholam 3850m April
Nepal 2001 352 ergebnis ergebnis scaled
Nepal 2001 353 ergebnis ergebnis scaled
Nepal (Gorkha) Rupina-La 3350m, May

Description

Primula strumosa is a Himalayan primrose recorded from Nepal, India, China, Bhutan and Japan, with about 152 GBIF occurrences along the central and eastern Himalaya. It grows in moist alpine and subalpine meadows, damp grassy slopes, rhododendron scrub and streamsides, typically between roughly 3300 and 4300 m. The plants photographed at Topke Gholam (about 3850 m, April) and at Rupina-La in Gorkha (about 3350 m, May) in Nepal exemplify its habit of flowering early in the season in wet montane turf, often soon after snowmelt when the yellow heads emerge above the developing foliage.

The species is a perennial rosette herb with a short rootstock and basal leaves that are oblong to oblanceolate, with crenate to denticulate margins, the blade narrowing into a winged petiole and frequently dusted with pale farina (meal) beneath. The flowering scape is erect and bears a terminal umbel of several flowers subtended by bracts. The corolla is yellow, salverform with a slender tube and spreading, notched lobes, the calyx campanulate and often farinose. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous small seeds, the flowers typically heterostylous with pin and thrum forms promoting outcrossing.

Primula strumosa belongs to the yellow-flowered Himalayan assemblage of section Petiolares and allies, a group of meal-bearing primroses centred on the high rainfall ranges from Nepal to Bhutan and adjacent China. These primroses are closely tied to permanently moist, cool habitats and to insect pollination of their distylous flowers. With a moderately wide range across the central-eastern Himalaya the species is not regarded as threatened, though as a moisture-demanding alpine specialist it is sensitive to changes in snow cover and meadow hydrology.

Author: Balf. f. & R.E. Cooper · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Richards' monograph Primula

Primulaceae

Primula tanneri subsp. nepalensis

by GP Jürgens

A.J.Richards

BhutanPG2011 270
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 3900m June

Description

Primula tanneri subsp. nepalensis is a subalpine to alpine primula of the Himalaya; under the GBIF backbone the name is treated as a synonym, with Primula tanneri nepalensis given as the accepted name. The GBIF records, though few (around ten occurrences) and centred on Nepal, accompany a wider distribution of the species through the Central and Eastern Himalaya including Bhutan. It grows in moist alpine and subalpine habitats, among open Rhododendron scrub, damp turf and shaded rocky slopes near the treeline. The plant figured was recorded at Jule-Tso in Bhutan at about 3,900 m in June, flowering early in the growing season.

It is a glabrous perennial herb with a basal rosette of obovate to oblong-spathulate leaves, the margins toothed and the blade tapering to a winged petiole, often more or less efarinose. The flowering scape is erect and bears a terminal umbel of several flowers, each subtended by linear bracts. The corolla is deep purple to violet, somewhat funnelform, with a short tube and a spreading limb of five emarginate lobes, the throat marked by a paler or yellowish eye. As typical of the genus the species is heterostylous, producing distinct pin and thrum morphs, and the fruit is a many-seeded capsule.

Primula tanneri belongs to the petiolarid alliance of Himalayan primulas, and subsp. nepalensis represents the western, Nepalese-centred expression of this variable species, distinguished by leaf and farina characters from the typical eastern subspecies. The heterostylous breeding system promotes obligate outcrossing by insects. With a restricted range and few documented populations it is naturally local; while not formally evaluated, such narrowly distributed alpine taxa warrant monitoring against climatic shifts.

Author: A.J.Richards · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Richards' Primula (monograph), Smith & Fletcher revision of Asiatic Primula

Primulaceae

Primula tenuiloba

by GP Jürgens

(G.Watt) Pax

BhutanPG2011 456
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4000m June
BhutanPG2011 561 1
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4000m June

Description

Primula tenuiloba is a diminutive cushion-forming primula of the high Eastern Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, India and Bhutan, with an outlying GBIF citation referable to Japan; the species is documented from some 92 occurrences. It is a plant of the upper alpine zone, occupying moist rocky ledges, gritty turf, screes and snowmelt-irrigated crevices well above the treeline, typically around 4,000 m and higher. The illustrated material was gathered at Jule-Tso in Bhutan at about 4,000 m in June, where it blooms in the brief early-summer window as the alpine slopes thaw.

It is a small, glabrous to farinose perennial herb forming compact tufts or low cushions from a short rootstock. The leaves are crowded in a basal rosette, the blades oblong-spathulate and, as the epithet implies, divided into narrow lobes or pinnatifid-toothed segments, often with a dusting of white or yellowish farina. The flowers are borne singly or in a small umbel on a short scape, occasionally almost sessile among the leaves; the corolla is rose-purple to violet with a contrasting yellow eye, the limb of five obcordate, emarginate lobes spreading from a slender tube. As in the genus the species is heterostylous, and the fruit is a small globose capsule.

Primula tenuiloba is placed in section Minutissimae, the dwarf, cushion-forming Himalayan primulas, characterised by tiny stature, farinose lobed leaves and short-scaped flowers, allying it with P. reptans and P. minutissima. Heterostyly enforces outcrossing by alpine insects. Restricted to a narrow high-altitude band and naturally localised, it is uncommon though not formally assessed; like other obligate alpines its snow-bed habitat is vulnerable to climatic warming.

Author: (G.Watt) Pax · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Richards' Primula (monograph), Smith & Fletcher revision of Asiatic Primula

Primulaceae

Primula umbratilis

by GP Jürgens

Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper

BhutanPG2011 604 01 1
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4200m June
BhutanPG2011 563 01
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4200m June
Also: Eriopyton wallichii Benth.

Description

Primula umbratilis is a high-alpine primrose endemic to Bhutan, a narrow-range species known only from that country, where all 33 GBIF records are concentrated. It is a plant of the cool, moist alpine zone, growing among rocks, in damp turf, and in the sheltered shade implied by its epithet (umbratilis, 'of shady places'), often near snowmelt and seepage. The illustrated material comes from Jule-Tso at about 4200 m in June, a glacial lake basin in the high alpine where the species flowers shortly after snow retreat alongside other cushion and rosette plants of the moist eastern Himalayan tops.

The plant is a small herbaceous perennial forming a basal rosette of leaves that are commonly farinose, with a mealy white or yellowish powder on the undersurface and within the flowers, a frequent feature of the genus. From the rosette arises a slender scape bearing an umbel of a few stalked flowers. The corolla is heterostylous, salverform with a slender tube expanding into a flat limb of five obcordate, notched lobes, the colour ranging through pink to violet with a contrasting eye; the calyx is tubular and the fruit a small capsule dehiscing to release numerous minute seeds.

Primula is one of the largest genera of the northern temperate flora, and the Sino-Himalayan region is its centre of diversity, particularly in the high mountains of Bhutan and adjacent China. The historical synonym Eriopyton wallichii Benth. noted in the caption reflects an early generic placement now subsumed under Primula. As a single-country endemic restricted to the alpine zone, P. umbratilis is potentially vulnerable to climate-driven upward range contraction and to grazing pressure, warranting monitoring despite its remote habitat.

Author: Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Primula (Richards), Primulas of the Himalaya

Primulaceae

Primula whitei

by GP Jürgens

W.W. Sm.

Bh2008 131 G220
Bhutan Pele-La, 3000m April
Bh2008 233 P370
Bhutan Pele-La, 3000m April

Description

Primula whitei W.W.Sm. is an eastern Himalayan primrose of comparatively narrow range; GBIF lists about 74 occurrences from Bhutan, neighbouring India, southern China and Myanmar, with records extending into eastern Nepal. It grows in cool, moist habitats of the upper temperate and subalpine zones, on mossy banks, damp rock ledges, shady cliffs and the margins of forest and scrub, broadly between about 3000 and 4000 m. The plants photographed at Pele-La in Bhutan at 3000 m in April flower very early in the season, as snow recedes, on a high pass typical of the humid, cloud-bathed habitats this species requires.

It is a small, farinose perennial herb forming a compact rosette that overwinters as a resting bud. The leaves are obovate to spathulate, with a crenate to dentate margin tapering to a winged petiole, and the undersurface is often dusted with white or yellowish farina. The flowers are borne singly or in a small umbel on a short scape that elongates only slightly after anthesis, so the blooms nestle close to the foliage. The corolla is salverform with a slender tube and spreading limb of obcordate lobes, violet-blue to lilac with a paler or yellowish eye. The species is heterostylous, and the fruit is a small capsule releasing numerous minute seeds.

Primula whitei belongs to section Petiolares, a Sino-Himalayan group of early-flowering, often farinose primulas centred on the eastern Himalaya whose species delimitation has long challenged taxonomists; it has at times been associated with the Primula bhutanica complex. The genus is classically heterostylous, promoting outcrossing between pin and thrum morphs. With its limited range and reliance on cool, perennially humid microhabitats, the species is regionally restricted and potentially sensitive to warming and to desiccation of the high-altitude niches on which Petiolares primulas depend.

Author: W.W. Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Richards' monograph Primula, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal

Rosaceae

Prunus campanulata

by GP Jürgens

Maxim.

Nepal 95 437 P759 ergebnis
Nepal Trisuli 2400m October

Description

Prunus campanulata is an East Asian cherry distributed across southern China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, with outlying records reaching the central Himalaya in Nepal, India and Vietnam; it is also widely cultivated and naturalised in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Americas, accounting for the broad GBIF footprint of nearly 1,900 occurrences. In its native range it occupies montane broad-leaved and mixed forest, forest margins and ravines, typically between 500 and 2,500 m. The plant photographed near Trisuli in central Nepal at about 2,400 m in October represents the species at the higher end of its Himalayan range, in cool, humid temperate forest on well-drained slopes.

It is a deciduous tree or large shrub reaching 3-8 m, with glabrous, reddish-brown twigs and conspicuous lenticels. The leaves are alternate, ovate to elliptic-oblong, 4-10 cm long, acuminate, with a sharply biserrate margin and glandular petioles. The flowers, borne in fascicles of 2-4 before or with the young leaves, are pendent and bell-shaped (campanulate), 1-2 cm across, with a deep rose-pink to carmine urceolate hypanthium and rounded, notched petals enclosed by a persistent reddish calyx. The fruit is a small ovoid drupe, ripening dark red to purplish-black and enclosing a single stone.

The distinctive nodding, deeply coloured campanulate flowers and early flowering season distinguish P. campanulata within subgenus Cerasus, where it is placed in section Pseudocerasus. Its early bloom makes it an important nectar source for overwintering birds and early insects, and the drupes are bird-dispersed. The species is horticulturally prized as the Taiwan or bellflower cherry and is a parent in numerous ornamental hybrids; its wide naturalisation reflects this cultivation, and it is locally regarded as a minor invasive in parts of the southern hemisphere. It is not considered threatened.

Author: Maxim. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Kew Bulletin monograph of Prunus subgen. Cerasus