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