Author

G & P Jürgens

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum verticillatum

by G & P Jürgens

(L.) All.

Bh09 60 P108 ergebnis
Bhutan Jili-La 3500m, May

Description

Polygonatum verticillatum ((L.) All.), the whorled Solomon's-seal, is a temperate to subalpine rhizomatous herb with a remarkably broad Eurasian range. It extends from western and central Europe across Russia and the Caucasus to Central Asia, the Himalaya and southwest China; the very large number of GBIF occurrences (over 121,000) reflects its abundance across European mountains, though the Himalayan populations recorded from Nepal and Bhutan represent the easternmost segment of its distribution. It grows in shady deciduous and coniferous woodland, on grassy slopes and among rocks in alpine meadows, ascending to around 3,800 m, as exemplified by the collection from Jili-La in Bhutan at 3,500 m in May.

The plant arises from a creeping, knotted, horizontal rhizome and produces erect, terete, glabrous stems 30–80 cm tall. The leaves are sessile and arranged in distinct whorls of three to eight at each node, narrowly lanceolate to linear-oblong and acuminate, with the upper ones often subverticillate. The pendent, tubular-campanulate flowers are greenish-white, borne singly or in axillary clusters of two to four on slender pedicels; the perianth tube is six-lobed at the mouth and encloses six included stamens. The fruit is a globose berry that ripens from green through red to a deep purplish-black.

Within the genus the species is distinguished by its whorled leaf arrangement, contrasting with the alternate, distichous leaves of the related P. multiflorum and P. odoratum. The Himalayan rhizomes are valued in Ayurvedic and Tibetan medicine, where the plant is one of the sources traded as "Meda," a use that locally threatens wild stands through overharvesting. Across its wide global range, however, the species remains common and is assessed as of least concern.

Author: (L.) All. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Nepal, GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 24, Jeffrey: The Genus Polygonatum (Liliaceae) in Eastern Asia (1980)

Polygonaceae

Polygonum microcephalum

by G & P Jürgens

D.Don

Sikkim 2006 261 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Lingza 1300m, May

Description

Polygonum microcephalum is a herb of the eastern Himalaya and montane Southeast Asia, widely distributed from Nepal and north-east India through Bhutan and south-western China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang) to northern Myanmar and Vietnam. The very large global occurrence figures returned under the accepted genus Persicaria reflect aggregated records of the broader complex; this taxon is properly treated as Persicaria microcephala (D. Don) H. Gross. It grows in moist, shaded situations — forest understorey, streamsides, ditches and disturbed clearings — chiefly between about 800 and 2,800 m. The plant photographed at Lingza in West Bengal, India, at 1,300 m in May represents its typical low-montane subtropical broadleaf forest habitat.

It is a perennial herb with slender, often reddish, ascending to scrambling stems rooting at the lower nodes, the swollen nodes sheathed by membranous, cylindrical ochreae. The leaves are alternate, ovate to broadly lanceolate, acuminate, frequently marked with a dark chevron and red venation, the surfaces sometimes finely pubescent. The flowers are minute and aggregated into small, dense, head-like or short-spike inflorescences, the perianth of five tepals white to pinkish; stamens commonly eight. The fruit is a trigonous, dark, shining achene enclosed within the persistent perianth.

The segregation of Persicaria from Polygonum sensu lato, supported by molecular phylogenetics, places this species in a large genus characterised by ochreate sheaths and capitate or spiciform inflorescences. The dark-marked, often red-flushed foliage has brought certain forms into cultivation. The species is widespread, ecologically adaptable and of no conservation concern, behaving locally as a colonist of disturbed ground.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 5, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Hong et al.: Polygonaceae in Flora of China

Polygonaceae

Polygonum molle

by G & P Jürgens

D.Don

Sikkim 2006 463 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Ruigi-Chu 2100m, May

Description

Polygonum molle D.Don is a robust perennial knotweed of the Himalaya and adjacent uplands. Under current circumscription the name is treated as a synonym, the accepted genus being Koenigia, into which many former Asian Polygonum and Aconogonon species have been transferred following molecular phylogenetic studies. The taxon occurs from Pakistan and Nepal eastward through Sikkim and Bhutan into southwest China, with the broad GBIF country list reflecting the wide aggregate concept of the genus and numerous cultivated or naturalised records across Europe and North America. It was recorded in West Bengal at Ruigi-Chu at 2,100 m in May, growing in moist temperate forest clearings, stream banks, and shrubby slopes between about 1,500 and 3,000 m.

The plant forms stout, erect, much-branched stems up to 1–2 m tall arising from a woody rootstock, the nodes sheathed by membranous, often brownish ochreae. The leaves are large, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with a softly pubescent (hence "molle") and somewhat velvety lower surface. Numerous small whitish to greenish flowers are borne in much-branched, paniculate inflorescences of slender racemes; each flower has a five-parted perianth that persists around the trigonous, glossy achene at maturity.

The transfer to Koenigia reflects a substantial reorganisation of tribe Persicarieae, in which the traditional broad Polygonum proved polyphyletic. Plants of this group are pioneer colonisers of disturbed temperate habitats and contribute to slope stabilisation. Robust and widespread, the species is of no conservation concern, though its taxonomy at species rank remains in flux pending fuller sampling.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 5, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Schuster et al.: Phylogeny of Polygoneae (Taxon, 2011)

Polygonaceae

Polygonum runcinatum

by G & P Jürgens

Buch.-Ham.

Sikkim 2006 458 ergebnis
India Sikkim, Ringi-Chu 2100m May

Description

Polygonum runcinatum is a widely distributed knotweed found across the Himalaya and extending through much of eastern and southeastern Asia to Malesia. Its range encompasses Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, with scattered records elsewhere. GBIF documents over 1,660 occurrences, reflecting its abundance and broad ecological amplitude. The species colonises moist, open to semi-shaded habitats including forest margins, stream banks, roadsides, damp meadows, and disturbed ground at elevations from 500 to 3,500 m. The photograph from Ringi-Chu in Sikkim at 2,100 m, taken in May, shows the species at a mid-elevation site in the eastern Himalaya.
The plant is a prostrate to ascending perennial herb, 20–60 cm long, often forming extensive mats. Stems are slender, branched, rooting at lower nodes, reddish-brown, glabrous to sparsely pubescent. Leaves are distinctive: ovate to lanceolate, 3–8 cm long, with a hastate to runcinate base bearing prominent, backward-pointing basal lobes — the feature indicated by the epithet runcinatum. The upper leaf surface frequently bears a dark, V-shaped or chevron-like blotch, a useful field character. Ocreae are tubular, membranous, ciliate. Flowers are borne in dense, globose, terminal capitate heads, 8–12 mm in diameter, on slender peduncles. Individual flowers are small, with a five-lobed perianth, pink to deep rose, occasionally white. Stamens usually eight. The achene is trigonous, dark brown, enclosed within the persistent perianth.
Polygonum runcinatum has been transferred by some authors to Persicaria as P. runcinata (Buch.-Ham.) H.Gross, reflecting the broad restructuring of Polygonum sensu lato based on molecular phylogenetic evidence. The species is ecologically versatile and often weedy, colonising disturbed habitats rapidly. It plays a role in soil stabilisation on moist slopes and provides floral resources for small pollinators. It is not threatened and is considered common to locally abundant throughout its extensive range.

Author: Buch.-Ham. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Li et al.: Polygonaceae in Flora of China Vol. 5, Grierson & Long: Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1

Rosaceae

Potentilla argyrophylla

by G & P Jürgens

Wall.

Nepal 99 360 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 3800m, June
Nepal 99 128 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 3800m, June

Description

Potentilla argyrophylla is a showy alpine cinquefoil of the Himalaya, native across India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. Its large GBIF tally (over 1300 occurrences) includes numerous European and North American records (Sweden, Germany, Norway, France, the United States and others) that reflect its long cultivation as a hardy garden perennial rather than any natural range there. In the wild it occupies open alpine meadows, grassy slopes, forest margins and rocky pastures of the upper subalpine and alpine zones. The illustrated plant was photographed in West Nepal at Kalmura at about 3800 m in June, a typical high-meadow station near the centre of its altitudinal range of roughly 3000 to 4500 m.

The plant is a tufted perennial herb arising from a stout, woody rootstock and bearing several ascending flowering stems. The leaves are pinnate or trifoliolate with three to several obovate, toothed leaflets, conspicuously silvery-white tomentose beneath (the epithet argyrophylla, silver-leaved) and greener above. The flowers are borne in loose, branched cymes; each has five green sepals alternating with an epicalyx, and five broad, obcordate petals that are typically golden-yellow but in some forms deep red or apricot. The numerous stamens surround a domed receptacle bearing many free carpels, which mature into a head of small, dry achenes.

Potentilla is a large, taxonomically complex genus of the Rosaceae, and P. argyrophylla together with the closely allied P. atrosanguinea forms a Himalayan group much hybridised in horticulture, where it has given rise to many garden cultivars. In the wild it is common and widespread, of no conservation concern, and an important nectar source for high-altitude bees and other insects.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Soják's revisional studies of Potentilla (Rosaceae)

Rosaceae

Potentilla articulata var. latipetiolata

by G & P Jürgens

(C.E.C. Fisch.) T.T. Yu & C.L. Li

Sikkim2003 506 P706 ergebnis
Sikkim Yume Samdong 4400m, August

Description

Potentilla articulata var. latipetiolata is a high-altitude perennial herb found in the eastern Himalayas and extending into the Sino-Himalayan region. It has been recorded from northeast India (Sikkim), Bhutan, and China (Xizang, Yunnan). The variety inhabits alpine scree, rocky moraine margins, and gravelly slopes at elevations of 3,800–5,000 m, favouring well-drained, mineral substrates with sparse vegetation cover. It has been collected from the Yume Samdong area in Sikkim at 4,400 m, flowering in August at the height of the eastern Himalayan monsoon.
The plant forms a compact, caespitose rosette from a stout, woody caudex covered with persistent, fibrous leaf-base remnants. The basal leaves are pinnately compound with 5–9 leaflets that are obovate to elliptic, 5–12 mm long, densely sericeous to villous on both surfaces, giving the foliage a silvery appearance. The petioles are broad and somewhat winged, a diagnostic character of var. latipetiolata distinguishing it from the typical variety. The flowering stems are short, 3–10 cm tall, bearing 1–3 flowers. The flowers are 10–15 mm in diameter, with five bright yellow, broadly obovate petals exceeding the sepals. The epicalyx segments are lanceolate, slightly shorter than the sepals. The achenes are smooth, ovoid, approximately 1.5 mm long.
This variety was originally described by C.E.C. Fischer and subsequently recombined by T.T. Yu and C.L. Li. It is distinguished from the typical Potentilla articulata primarily by its broader, more conspicuously winged petioles. With approximately 39 occurrence records in GBIF, it is a relatively uncommon taxon. The high-alpine habitats it occupies are among the most climate-sensitive ecosystems in the Himalayas, and long-term monitoring of such specialised alpine rosette plants is important for understanding biotic responses to warming temperatures and glacial retreat in the region.

Author: (C.E.C. Fisch.) T.T. Yu & C.L. Li · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 9, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Grierson & Long: Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1 (1987)

Rosaceae

Potentilla atrosanguinea

by G & P Jürgens

Lodd, G.Lodd. & W.Lodd

Nepal 99 110 ergebnis
West-Nepal South of Rara-Lake 3600m, June
Garw 2005 48 ergebnis ergebnis
India Garhwal Valley of flowers 3350m, September

Description

Potentilla atrosanguinea is a Himalayan alpine herb ranging from Pakistan through the western and central Himalaya into Nepal. GBIF documents about 450 occurrences, drawing on native populations in India, Nepal and Pakistan plus numerous cultivated and naturalised records across Europe and North America. It grows in alpine and subalpine meadows, open grassy slopes and rocky ground, typically between about 2500 and 4000 m. The photographed plants come from West Nepal south of Rara Lake at roughly 3600 m in June and the Valley of Flowers in Garhwal, India, at about 3350 m in September, both species-rich high-meadow settings.

The species is a tufted perennial arising from a stout, woody rootstock. The basal leaves are long-petioled and pinnately or digitately compound, with three to five obovate, coarsely toothed leaflets that are green above and densely white-tomentose beneath. The stems are erect, branched and silky-hairy, bearing reduced cauline leaves. The flowers are borne in lax cymes and are showy, with five spreading petals ranging from deep blood-red and orange to occasionally yellow, an epicalyx alternating with the calyx lobes, and numerous stamens. The fruit is an aggregate of small dry achenes on a dry receptacle.

GBIF flags the recorded name as a SYNONYM, with Potentilla atrosanguinea as the accepted name. The species is variable in flower colour and leaf division, and several varieties and segregates have been recognised. Its richly coloured forms have entered horticulture and underlie garden hybrids. Widespread and common across its native alpine range, it is of no conservation concern and is an important component of Himalayan meadow communities.

Author: Lodd, G.Lodd. & W.Lodd · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora Simlensis, Th. Wolf: Monographie der Gattung Potentilla

Rosaceae

Potentilla eriocarpa

by G & P Jürgens

Wall. & Lehm.

Nepal 99 481 ergebnis
West-Nepal Churta-Khola 3700m, June
Garw 2005 309 ergebnis
India Garhwal Patanathi 3600m, September

Description

Potentilla eriocarpa is a mat-forming alpine cinquefoil distributed throughout the Himalaya and adjacent ranges, from Afghanistan and Pakistan eastward through India, Nepal and Bhutan into south-western China and Myanmar. GBIF records some 667 occurrences, densest in Nepal, the Indian Himalaya and the Chinese borderlands. It is a plant of the high alpine zone, colonising rock crevices, screes, stony meadows, moraines and exposed ridges, characteristically between about 3000 and 4800 m. The populations imaged in West-Nepal at Churta-Khola (3700 m, June) and in Indian Garhwal at Patanathi (3600 m, September) reflect its broad flowering season across the western Himalaya, from early summer into autumn near the upper limits of vascular plant growth.

The species forms low, dense cushions or tufts from a stout, woody, branched caudex clothed in the persistent remains of old stipules and leaf-bases. The leaves are ternate, the three obovate to cuneate leaflets coarsely toothed toward the apex, dark green and glabrescent above, paler and often silky beneath. The flowering stems are short, ascending to decumbent, bearing one to few flowers. Each flower has five sepals alternating with five epicalyx segments, five broadly obovate, often emarginate yellow petals, numerous stamens and many carpels on a hairy receptacle. The diagnostic feature, reflected in the epithet, is the densely woolly-hairy (eriocarpous) achenes forming the fruiting head.

Potentilla is a large and taxonomically intricate northern-temperate genus, and P. eriocarpa, described by Wallich and Lehmann, belongs to the predominantly Asian alpine cushion-forming group. Its ternate leaves and conspicuously hairy achenes separate it from the many associated Himalayan cinquefoils. As a widespread, abundant high-alpine perennial it is of no conservation concern, and is a significant component of cushion-plant and fellfield communities at extreme elevations.

Author: Wall. & Lehm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, monograph of the genus Potentilla (Wolf)

Rosaceae

Potentilla monanthes var. monanthes

by G & P Jürgens

author unknown

Sikkim2011 231
Sikkim Yumthang 3700m, June

Description

Potentilla monanthes var. monanthes is a high-altitude cinquefoil of the Himalaya, a member of the rose family despite the unhelpful "Uncategorized" family label carried in the source data. GBIF records are sparse, with only about 18 occurrences and confirmed presence in Nepal and Pakistan, consistent with a narrowly recorded alpine plant of the western and central Himalaya. It grows in alpine meadows, short turf, stony slopes, screes and rock crevices above the treeline, where thin soils, intense insolation and a brief growing season prevail. The photographed plant from Yumthang in Sikkim at about 3700 m, flowering in June, extends the documented range eastward and exemplifies its occurrence in moist alpine pasture soon after snow-melt at the start of the short montane summer.

It is a small, tufted to mat-forming perennial herb arising from a stout, often branched, woody rootstock or caudex clothed in the persistent remains of old leaf bases. The leaves are mostly basal and pinnately or digitately compound, with few small, obovate to cuneate leaflets that are toothed toward the apex and frequently silky-hairy, giving the foliage a silvery cast adapted to high light and cold. The flowering stems are short and few-flowered, and the variety is distinguished, as its epithet monanthes (single-flowered) implies, by typically solitary flowers. Each flower has the usual Potentilla structure: five green sepals alternating with five epicalyx segments, five yellow obcordate petals, numerous stamens and many free carpels on a hairy receptacle, ripening into a head of small dry achenes.

Within the large and taxonomically difficult genus Potentilla, P. monanthes belongs to the dwarf, cushion-forming alpine cinquefoils and is recognised in the typical variety by its reduced, single-flowered habit; allied entities have been segregated as further varieties or confused with related Himalayan species. Its low stature, dense silky indumentum and woody caudex are classic adaptations to the windswept, cold, high-alpine environment, and pollination is by generalist alpine insects. Given its very small number of records and restricted high-elevation habitat, the taxon is poorly known and would benefit from further survey; while not formally assessed, narrow-range alpine cinquefoils of this kind are inherently vulnerable to climate-driven contraction of the alpine zone.

Author: author unknown · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 9, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Soják's revision of Potentilla

Rosaceae

Potentilla monanthes var. sipthorpioides

by G & P Jürgens

Hook.f.

Sikkim2004 288 G500
Sikkim/India Dzongri 3900m May

Description

Potentilla monanthes var. sipthorpioides is a small alpine cinquefoil endemic to the eastern and central Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, India and Bhutan. It is a plant of open alpine turf, damp grassy slopes, rock ledges and the margins of streams and snow-melt flushes in the high mountains, generally between about 3500 and 4500 m. The photographed plant grows at Dzongri in Sikkim, northern India, at around 3900 m, flowering in May soon after snowmelt. With only nine georeferenced occurrences it is among the more sparsely documented Himalayan potentillas, reflecting both its restricted range and its inconspicuous, low-growing habit in remote high terrain.

It is a slender, tufted perennial herb arising from a slender rootstock, forming low mats or small cushions. The leaves are mostly basal, ternate or digitately divided, with small obovate to cuneate leaflets that are toothed at the apex, green and thinly hairy to silky, on slender petioles. The flowering stems are short and slender, ascending, usually bearing solitary or few flowers. The flowers are small, with five green sepals alternating with narrower epicalyx segments, and five obovate to obcordate yellow petals slightly exceeding the calyx. The numerous stamens surround a domed receptacle bearing many free carpels. The fruit is a cluster of small dry achenes seated on the dry receptacle.

Within the variable Potentilla monanthes complex, this variety is distinguished by characters of leaf division and stature, and its taxonomic limits remain somewhat uncertain pending revision of the Himalayan members of the genus. Its restricted distribution and few records mean its conservation status is poorly assessed; high-altitude grazing pressure and climatic change in the alpine zone are potential concerns for such narrow-range taxa.

Author: Hook.f. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Soják's revisions of Asian Potentilla