Author

G & P Jürgens

Rubiaceae

Neohymenopogon parasiticus

by G & P Jürgens

(Wall.) Bennet

Bhutan2015 41
Bhutan Wangdi Phoang 2000m, October
Bhutan2012 941
Bhutan Tumching-La 2300m, October
Sikkim2003 40 K52.2
Sikkim above Yoksam 1860m 08.2003

Description

Neohymenopogon parasiticus is an epiphytic shrub of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent Sino-Himalayan and Indochinese mountains, distributed through China, Nepal, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Vietnam (gbif_countries: CN, NP, IN, TH, MM, BT, VN, ZZ, GB, PG), with some 438 GBIF occurrences. Despite the epithet it is not truly parasitic but grows perched on the trunks and mossy branches of trees in humid, mid-elevation broadleaved and mixed forest, occasionally also on rocks. The illustrated collections range from above Yoksam in Sikkim at about 1860 m up to Wangdi Phoang and Tumching-La in Bhutan at around 2000–2300 m, recorded in the late-monsoon to autumn months, reflecting its preference for moist, cloud-bathed submontane forest.

The plant is a glabrous to finely hairy epiphytic shrub with opposite, elliptic to obovate leaves clustered toward the branch tips, the stipules interpetiolar as in Rubiaceae. The flowers are borne in terminal cymose clusters and are showy by virtue of enlarged, white, petaloid calyx-lobes (calycophylls) that subtend the inflorescence and aid pollinator attraction, surrounding tubular corollas. The fruit is a ribbed, dehiscent capsule releasing many small, winged seeds suited to wind dispersal among the canopy.

Neohymenopogon was segregated from Hymenopogon to accommodate this distinctive Himalayan epiphytic lineage, and the species is placed in the madder family among the calycophyll-bearing Rubiaceae that mimic the petaloid bracts of Mussaenda and its allies. As an epiphyte dependent on intact, humid forest canopy, it is sensitive to deforestation, though it remains locally frequent across its range and is not currently of conservation concern.

Author: (Wall.) Bennet · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Robbrecht's studies of Rubiaceae systematics

Plantaginaceae

Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora

by G & P Jürgens

(Pennell) D.Y.Hong

Sikkim2011 278
Sikkim Lada-La 3600m, June

Description

Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora is an alpine herb of the central and eastern Himalaya, ranging through Nepal, Bhutan, northern India and south-western China (Tibet), the roughly 106 GBIF records concentrating along this high-mountain belt with cultivated and herbarium material accounting for the United States occurrences. In GBIF the name is treated as a synonym, with Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora cited as the accepted name. It grows on open alpine slopes, moist rocky meadows, screes and humus-rich crevices, typically between 3500 and 4800 m. The photographed plant from Lada-La in Sikkim at 3600 m in June reflects its early-summer flowering on damp, high-alpine ground.

It is a low, creeping perennial herb spreading by a stout, bitter, woody rhizome that roots at the nodes and bears persistent leaf remains. The leaves are mostly basal, spathulate to oblong-obovate, with a crenate-serrate margin, narrowed to a winged base. From the rosette arises a short, erect scape terminating in a dense, cylindrical, spike-like raceme of small flowers; the corolla is dark bluish-purple to violet, with conspicuously exserted stamens. The fruit is a small ovoid capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

The monotypic genus Neopicrorhiza was segregated from Picrorhiza and, following molecular work, is now placed in the Plantaginaceae (formerly within Scrophulariaceae). The rhizome, known in trade as kutki, is intensely bitter and is among the most heavily harvested Himalayan medicinal plants, used for hepatic and febrile complaints. Sustained wild collection has caused marked population decline, and the species is regarded as threatened and is subject to harvesting controls and cultivation initiatives across its range.

Author: (Pennell) D.Y.Hong · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Picrorhiza and Neopicrorhiza systematic study

Orchideaceae

Neottia longicaulis

by G & P Jürgens

(King & Pantl.) Szlach.

BhutanPG2011 113
Bhutan Tsochenchen, 3500m June

Description

Neottia longicaulis is a terrestrial orchid of the cool, shaded forests of the eastern Himalaya, recorded from India, China, Bhutan and Nepal, with 23 GBIF occurrences reflecting a fairly narrow Sino-Himalayan distribution. It grows in damp, humus-rich leaf litter and mossy ground beneath conifer and mixed broadleaved forest, and in the moist scrub near the treeline, generally in the upper temperate to subalpine zone. The illustrated plant was found at Tsochenchen in Bhutan at about 3500 m in June, in the shaded, humus-floored fir and rhododendron forest where these inconspicuous orchids favour deep, undisturbed organic soils.

The plant is a slender, erect herb with a relatively long stem, as the epithet longicaulis indicates, bearing on its lower part a pair of opposite, broadly ovate to cordate leaves in the manner characteristic of the former genus Listera. The inflorescence is a lax raceme of small, green to yellowish-green flowers above the leaves. Each flower has spreading sepals and petals and a deeply two-lobed (bifid) pendent lip, the cleft forming two divergent arms; the column is short. The fruit is a small ellipsoid capsule containing dust-like seeds.

The basionym authority (King & Pantl.) Szlach. records the transfer of this species into Neottia, into which the genus Listera is now subsumed following phylogenetic evidence that the two are not separable. Neottia belongs to tribe Neottieae, a group spanning fully autotrophic 'twayblade' species and wholly mycoheterotrophic members. Dependent on intact, humus-rich shaded forest, N. longicaulis is sensitive to disturbance, and its small documented range warrants attention even though it has not been formally assessed.

Author: (King & Pantl.) Szlach. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb)

Lamiaceae

Nepeta govaniana 

by G & P Jürgens

Benth.

Garw 2005 67 ergebnis ergebnis
India Garhwal Valley of flowers 3350m, September

Description

Nepeta govaniana is a western Himalayan endemic catmint distributed through the mountains of northern India, Pakistan and adjacent China, with GBIF recording about 169 occurrences concentrated in the north-western ranges. It is a plant of the upper temperate and subalpine zone, generally between roughly 2400 and 3700 m, the photographed material coming from the Valley of Flowers in Indian Garhwal at 3350 m, still in flower in September. It grows in moist alpine and subalpine meadows, forest clearings, among shrubberies and along stream banks on cool, humus-rich soils, often in the open herb-rich grassland of the high western Himalaya.

The species is an erect, aromatic perennial herb reaching about 0.6-1 m, with simple or branched, finely pubescent quadrangular stems. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate to ovate-oblong with a cordate or truncate base, acuminate apex and coarsely serrate margins, somewhat soft-hairy and pleasantly scented. Distinctively for a Nepeta, the flowers are pale yellow rather than blue or violet; they are borne in lax, often paniculate terminal cymes, the tubular calyx fifteen-nerved and two-lipped, the corolla two-lipped with a broad, notched lower lip. The fruit comprises four smooth ovoid nutlets.

Nepeta (Lamiaceae) is a large, mainly Eurasian genus, and N. govaniana is unusual in its soft yellow corollas, a feature that has made it a valued ornamental in temperate gardens. Its open, two-lipped flowers are visited and pollinated chiefly by bees. Locally frequent within its restricted western Himalayan range, it is not regarded as threatened, though its dependence on intact moist subalpine meadows links its fortunes to high-pasture land use.

Author: Benth. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan, Flora Simlensis, Flora of British India (Hooker), Hedge revision of Himalayan Nepeta, Harley et al. Labiatae (Kubitzki, The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants)

Lamiaceae

Nepeta laevigata

by G & P Jürgens

(D.Don) Hand.-Mazz.

Garw 2005 28 ergebnis ergebnis
India Garhwal Valley of flowers 2950m, September

Description

Nepeta laevigata is a perennial herb widely distributed across the temperate and subalpine Himalaya, ranging from Afghanistan and Pakistan eastwards through northern India and Nepal into south-western China, with a documented occurrence base of some 846 records (additional points from Germany, Norway and the United States reflecting cultivated or vouchered specimens). It favours open grassy slopes, forest margins, alpine meadows and disturbed ground between roughly 2400 and 3600 m. The plant illustrated here was photographed in India's Garhwal, in the celebrated Valley of Flowers at about 2950 m in September, where it flowers in the post-monsoon season among the rich herbaceous turf.

The species forms erect, quadrangular stems arising from a woody rootstock, typically 30-90 cm tall and often branched above. The leaves are opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, crenate-serrate at the margin, cordate or truncate at the base and borne on distinct petioles, the surfaces glabrous to thinly pubescent and gland-dotted. The inflorescence is a slender terminal raceme or spike of well-spaced verticillasters subtended by small bracts; the flowers are bilabiate, the calyx tubular and bluntly toothed, the corolla white to pale violet with a hooded upper lip and a broad, often spotted lower lip. The fruit comprises four smooth nutlets enclosed in the persistent calyx.

Membership in Lamiaceae, subfamily Nepetoideae, is confirmed by the aromatic foliage, square stems and characteristic verticillate cymes. Like many catmints, N. laevigata is strongly insect-pollinated, its nectar-rich corollas visited by bees and bumblebees. The species is common across much of its montane range and is not regarded as threatened; it functions as a typical component of Himalayan meadow and forest-edge communities, where its volatile terpenoid oils may deter generalist herbivores.

Author: (D.Don) Hand.-Mazz. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Budantsev revision of Nepeta

Brassicaceae

Noccaea andersonii

by G & P Jürgens

(Hook.f. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz

BhutanPG2011 638
Bhutan Paden-Tso, 4300m July

Description

Noccaea andersonii is an alpine crucifer of the Himalaya, documented by GBIF (140 occurrences) from Nepal, India, Bhutan and southern Tibetan China. It is a plant of the upper alpine zone, growing in open stony pastures, scree, moist seepages and the margins of glacial lakes, generally between about 3800 and 4600 m. The cited collection from Paden-Tso in Bhutan at 4300 m in July typifies its preferred habitat: cold, well-drained mineral soils near tarns where it flowers during the brief post-monsoon summer, often associated with cushion plants and short alpine sedge turf.

The species is a low, glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial herb arising from a slender caudex. Basal leaves are petiolate and form a loose rosette, while the cauline leaves are sessile and clasp the stem with sagittate-amplexicaul bases, a diagnostic feature of the genus. The inflorescence is a corymbose raceme of small flowers with four white to pale lilac petals borne above spreading sepals. The fruit is a flattened, obcordate to broadly elliptic silicle, narrowly winged toward the apex and notched at the tip, containing several smooth seeds in each loculus.

The binomial reflects the modern segregation of Noccaea from the broadly circumscribed Thlaspi, supported by the combination by Al-Shehbaz on molecular and fruit-anatomical grounds, with the perennial habit and amplexicaul leaves distinguishing it from annual Thlaspi proper. Ecologically it is a cold-adapted specialist of frost-churned alpine substrates. It is widespread across suitable habitat and not presently of conservation concern, though restricted to a narrow altitudinal band sensitive to climatic shifts.

Author: (Hook.f. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 8, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, Al-Shehbaz Brassicaceae systematic studies

Orchideaceae

Oberonia acaulis

by G & P Jürgens

Griff.

Bhutan2012 814 Kopie
Bhutan Zemgang 2000m, October
Bhutan2012 1146
Bhutan Tashiyangtse 1500m, October

Description

Oberonia acaulis is a small epiphytic orchid widespread across tropical and subtropical Asia, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and beyond, with about 198 GBIF occurrences. It grows in warm, humid broad-leaved and subtropical forest, perched on tree trunks and branches in shaded, moist situations from the lowlands into the lower montane zone. The images document it in Bhutan at Zemgang around 2000 m and at Tashiyangtse near 1500 m, both in October, when the minute flowers are borne in dense spikes among forest epiphyte communities.

It is a tufted, dwarf epiphyte lacking pseudobulbs, with a short stem bearing a fan of equitant, laterally flattened (iris-like), fleshy leaves arranged in two ranks. From the centre of the fan arises a slender, erect to arching scape terminating in a long, densely many-flowered cylindrical raceme. The flowers are extremely small, numerous, yellowish to orange-brown, arranged in whorls; the labellum is the most conspicuous part, typically three-lobed with a divided or toothed apex, distinguishing the species within the genus. The fruit is a tiny ellipsoid capsule.

Oberonia is a large pantropical genus of "button orchids" notable for the diminutive size and great number of their flowers, which complicates field identification and rests heavily on the structure of the lip. The minute flowers are thought to be pollinated by small flies or midges. Like all orchids the genus is listed on CITES Appendix II; O. acaulis is widespread and common across its broad range and is not considered threatened.

Author: Griff. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of British India, Genera Orchidacearum (Vol. 4 Epidendroideae)

Orchideaceae

Oberonia obcordata

by G & P Jürgens

Lindl.

BhutanPG2011 35 ergebnis
Bhutan Wangdi 2000m, June

Description

Oberonia obcordata is a diminutive epiphytic orchid of the Eastern Himalaya and adjacent Southeast Asia, recorded from China, India, Nepal, Thailand and Bhutan, with around 40 occurrences in GBIF. It grows as an epiphyte on the trunks and branches of trees in humid subtropical to lower montane broad-leaved forest, generally at moderate elevations of roughly 1,000 to 2,200 m. The plant illustrated was photographed near Wangdue (Wangdi) in western Bhutan at about 2,000 m in June, where the species flowers in the warm, moist conditions of the early monsoon.

It is a small, tufted epiphyte without pseudobulbs, the short stem bearing a fan of laterally flattened, equitant, fleshy leaves arranged in two ranks, as is characteristic of the genus. The inflorescence is a slender, pendent to arching raceme densely crowded with very numerous, minute flowers arranged in whorls along the axis. The tiny flowers are yellowish to orange-brown; the small sepals and petals spread, and the labellum, from which the epithet derives, is obcordate and more or less notched at the apex. The column is very short, and the fruit is a minute ellipsoid capsule containing exceedingly fine seeds.

Oberonia is a large palaeotropical genus of dwarf, fan-leaved epiphytes distinguished chiefly by the form of the diminutive labellum, here obcordate and emarginate. The minute flowers are pollinated by small insects, and establishment is mycorrhiza-dependent. Inconspicuous and easily overlooked, the species is relatively poorly documented; though not specifically assessed, it shares the general CITES Appendix II protection of the family, and its persistence is linked to intact mid-elevation forest.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb), Pridgeon et al. Genera Orchidacearum

Boraginaceae

Onosma bracteata

by G & P Jürgens

Wall.

Nepal 99 147 ergebnis
West-Nepal South of Rara-Lake 3700m, June
Nepal 99 724 ergebnis
West-Nepal, Bauli.Khola 3600m, July

Description

Onosma bracteata Wall. is a bristly perennial herb of the western and central Himalaya, recorded by GBIF (83 occurrences) from Nepal, India and Turkey, though its core range lies along the high inner-Himalayan valleys. It occupies dry, open, stony slopes, rocky pasture and the margins of subalpine scrub on calcareous or schistose substrates, flowering through the early monsoon. The cited collections from west Nepal, south of Rara Lake at 3700 m in June and at Bauli Khola at 3600 m in July, place it firmly in the high-altitude steppe and meadow zone where it forms scattered clumps on sun-exposed ground. The name is treated here as a synonym, with Onosma bracteata recognised as the accepted name.

The plant forms tufted, ascending to erect stems clothed throughout in stiff, spreading, tuberculate-based setae that give a harsh, hispid texture. The leaves are sessile, oblong-lanceolate to linear, entire and likewise bristly on both surfaces. Flowers are aggregated in terminal, scorpioid cymes subtended by conspicuous leafy bracts, from which the epithet derives; the corolla is tubular-campanulate, yellow, with a five-toothed limb and exserted anthers, and the gynoecium develops into four smooth nutlets enclosed by the persistent calyx.

Within the large Old World genus Onosma, the bracteate, yellow-flowered Himalayan species form a taxonomically intricate complex requiring careful comparison of indumentum and bract characters. Several Onosma yield a red dye (alkannin-type pigments) from their roots and have ethnobotanical and medicinal uses across the region. The species is not assessed as threatened, but its restriction to specialised dry montane habitats makes local populations vulnerable to grazing pressure and trampling.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of British India (Hooker), Boraginaceae of the Western Himalaya, Riedl monograph on Onosma

Boraginaceae

Onosma paniculatum

by G & P Jürgens

Bureau & Franch.

Bhutan2015 458
Bhutan Trongsa 2100m, October
Bhutan2015 457
Bhutan Trongsa 2100m, October

Description

Onosma paniculatum is a robust, bristly-hairy herb of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent China, with GBIF documenting 255 occurrences across China and Bhutan. It favours open, sunny banks, dry rocky slopes, roadside cuttings and disturbed grassy ground in warm-temperate to montane country. The photographed plant grows at Trongsa in central Bhutan at about 2100 m, flowering in October, a relatively low and autumn-flowering station consistent with the species' tolerance of dry, exposed habitats.

The plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial with stiffly erect stems clothed in spreading, often pustular-based setae that render it harshly scabrid. The basal and lower leaves are linear to lanceolate, the cauline leaves smaller and sessile. The inflorescence is an open, branched panicle of scorpioid cymes; the flowers are pendent with a tubular-campanulate corolla, blue to violet (sometimes purplish), exserted anthers and a long, slender style. The fruit comprises four smooth, ovoid-trigonous nutlets.

GBIF treats the spelling Onosma paniculatum as a synonym, with Onosma paniculata accepted as the correct orthography. Onosma is a large Old World genus whose roots yield naphthoquinone red dyes long used locally, and several Himalayan species are gathered for traditional medicine and colouring. The genus is taxonomically difficult owing to indumentum variation and intergrading forms, so reliable identification depends on nutlet and corolla detail. Its prominence at disturbed sites makes it a familiar, weedy component of the eastern Himalayan flora.

Author: Bureau & Franch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Riedl's revision of Onosma (Boraginaceae)