Thymelaeaceae

Thymelaeaceae

Daphne sureil

Thymelaeaceae

Edgeworthia gardneri

Thymelaeaceae

Stellera chamaejasme

Thymelaeaceae

Wikstroemia canescens

Thymelaeaceae

Thymelaeaceae

Daphne bholua

by GP Jürgens

Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

Sikkim2011 45
Sikkim Vista-valley 3750m, June
Sikkim2011 49
Sikkim Vista-valley 3750m, June

Description

Daphne bholua is an evergreen to semi-deciduous shrub of the central and eastern Himalaya, distributed through Nepal, China, Bhutan and India, with around 758 georeferenced records; its appearance in numerous temperate countries reflects its extensive horticultural cultivation. In the wild it occupies temperate and subalpine forest, scrub and clearings, often in oak, rhododendron and conifer woodland and on open hillsides. The plant photographed in Sikkim's Vista valley at 3750 m, flowering in June, exemplifies its upper-elevation range, where it forms thickets on moist, well-drained slopes.

It grows as an erect shrub to about 2.5 m with tough, fibrous bark and densely leafy branches. The leaves are alternate, clustered toward the branch tips, oblong-lanceolate, leathery, glossy dark green above and entire-margined. The fragrant flowers are borne in dense terminal and subterminal clusters; each has no petals but a petaloid, salverform perianth tube, white within and flushed rose-purple outside, the four spreading lobes strongly scented. The fruit is a fleshy ovoid berry-like drupe, blackening when ripe.

Daphne bholua, described by Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don, is celebrated in horticulture for its intensely fragrant winter-to-spring flowers and has given rise to many cultivars. In its homeland the strong bast fibres of the bark are a principal source of traditional Nepali handmade paper (lokta). Like other Thymelaeaceae it contains acrid, toxic compounds. Although widespread and not formally threatened, intensive bark harvesting for paper-making places localised pressure on wild populations.

Author: Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Halda The Genus Daphne

Thymelaeaceae

Daphne bholua var. glacialis

by GP Jürgens

(W.W.Sm. & Cave) B.L.Burtt

Nepal 97 130 P229
Nepal Mewa-Khola 2600m April
Nepal1992 238 W349 ergebnis
Nepal Kyapra 2800m March 
Nepal1992 108 W148 ergebnis
Nepal Kyapra 2800m March 

Description

Daphne bholua var. glacialis is a Himalayan variant of the paper daphne, distributed across the China-Nepal-India sector of the range, with about 79 GBIF occurrences. It grows in cool temperate forest and forest-edge scrub, in clearings, on shrubby slopes and along ridges, on moist but well-drained humus-rich soils, frequently with rhododendron, oak and conifers. The collections illustrated from the Mewa Khola at 2600 m in April and from Kyapra at 2800 m in March, both in eastern Nepal, are characteristic of its range of roughly 2400-3500 m, where it flowers in late winter and early spring; the epithet glacialis alludes to this hardy, high-cold habitat where the smaller-leaved form prevails.

This variety is a much-branched erect shrub typically 1-2.5 m tall, with tough, fibrous, pliant bark. The leaves are alternate, leathery, elliptic to oblanceolate, entire and glossy above, clustered toward the branch tips and more readily deciduous than in the typical variety. The fragrant flowers are borne in dense terminal and subterminal clusters; lacking petals, the showy perianth consists of a slender hypanthial tube expanding into four spreading lobes that are pinkish-purple outside and paler within, intensely scented. Eight stamens are inserted in two whorls within the tube, and the superior ovary ripens into a small ovoid drupe that turns black.

The taxon is treated by POWO as variety glacialis of Daphne bholua, distinguished from the typical form chiefly by its more deciduous, smaller leaves and tolerance of higher, colder sites. Like other Himalayan daphnes its bark yields strong fibre used in handmade lokta paper, and the whole plant contains acrid, irritant compounds. It is prized in horticulture for its winter fragrance; wild populations can be affected by bark harvesting and habitat clearance.

Author: (W.W.Sm. & Cave) B.L.Burtt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Halda The Genus Daphne, Brickell & Mathew Daphne monograph

Thymelaeaceae

Daphne tangutica

by G & P Jürgens

Maxim.

Sikkim 2006 380 ergebnis
Sikkim 2006 379 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tamrong 3200m, May
BhutanPG2011 486 scaled
Bhutan Ludlow-Sherriff-Trail Warrtlang-La, 4350m June

Description

Daphne tangutica is distributed across a broad elevational and geographical range from the eastern Himalayas to central and western China, with the core of its distribution in Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai provinces. GBIF records over 1,150 occurrences, predominantly from China, with additional records from Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The species inhabits Rhododendron scrub, alpine meadows, rocky slopes, and open coniferous forest margins at 2,500–4,500 m elevation. Collections from Tamrong in West Bengal at 3,200 m and from the Warrtlang-La along the Ludlow–Sherriff Trail in Bhutan at 4,350 m demonstrate its remarkable altitudinal amplitude within the eastern Himalayan region.
Daphne tangutica is an evergreen shrub, typically 0.5–1.5 m tall, compact and densely branched. Leaves are alternate, clustered towards the branch tips, oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–8 cm long, coriaceous, dark glossy green above and paler beneath, with entire revolute margins. Flowers are borne in dense terminal clusters of 3–8, each flower with a tubular hypanthium 10–14 mm long, the four spreading lobes white internally and purplish-rose externally. The flowers are intensely fragrant. Stamens are eight, in two whorls, inserted on the hypanthium tube. The fruit is an ovoid drupe, 6–8 mm long, red at maturity, containing a single seed.
Daphne tangutica was described by Maximowicz in 1882 from material collected in Gansu. It is closely related to D. retusa, and the two species have been confused in herbaria; D. tangutica is generally distinguished by its longer, more lanceolate leaves and more elongate hypanthium tube. The occurrence at 4,350 m on the Warrtlang-La approaches the upper limit for any Daphne species in the Himalayas and attests to the species' tolerance of extreme alpine conditions. It has been widely introduced into horticulture in Europe and North America, prized for its fragrant spring flowers and compact evergreen habit.

Author: Maxim. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Brickell & Mathew: Daphne — The Genus in the Wild and in Cultivation (1976)