Tag:

Alpine (>3500 m)

Rosaceae

Potentilla fruticosa var. pumila

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f.

BhutanPG2011 530
Bhutan Ludlow-Sherriff-Trail Dem-Tso, 4000m June
Sikkim2003 290 P401
Sikkim Saniti-Lake, 4300m August

Description

This dwarf shrubby cinquefoil belongs to the widespread circumboreal complex now placed by many authorities in the genus Dasiphora, the name GBIF treats as accepted; the very large occurrence total of over 83,000 reflects the broad species aggregate across North America, Europe and northern Asia, including China. The taxon is a true alpine, growing on stony pastures, lake shores, moraines and exposed rocky slopes near and above the treeline. The recorded high-Himalayan plants from Dem-Tso on the Ludlow-Sherriff Trail in Bhutan at 4000 m in June and from Saniti Lake in Sikkim at 4300 m in August represent prostrate dwarf forms of the cold, windswept upper alpine zone.

It is a low, much-branched deciduous shrub, in this variety dwarf and often mat-forming, with shredding brown bark on the older stems. The leaves are pinnate with usually five small, oblong to elliptic, entire leaflets that are silky-hairy and somewhat revolute at the margins, with conspicuous stipules. The flowers are solitary or few, with five rounded yellow petals, numerous stamens, and an epicalyx alternating with the green calyx lobes. The fruit is a head of small, hairy achenes typical of the genus.

The dwarf variety pumila is one of several poorly delimited high-elevation forms within a polymorphic, taxonomically contested group spanning Potentilla, Dasiphora and Pentaphylloides. Hardy and stress-tolerant, the shrub is a pioneer of skeletal alpine soils and a familiar component of treeline scrub across the Northern Hemisphere, of biogeographic interest as a connecting element between Himalayan and arctic floras.

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

Rosaceae

Potentilla microphylla

by GP Jürgens

D.Don

Bh09 163 G288 1
Bhutan Labana, 4100m June
Garh 07 374 ergebnis
Garh 07 375 ergebnis
India Garhwal Khiar Kutti 3900m, June
Sikkim2003 505 G705 ergebnis
Sikkim Yume Samdong 4400m, August

Description

Potentilla microphylla D.Don is a dwarf, cushion-forming cinquefoil of the high Himalaya and Tibetan borderlands, occurring through China, India, Nepal and Bhutan. Reliable verbatim occurrence and country totals in the source record are unfortunately conflated with family-level aggregate figures, so the very large occurrence count and the European-dominated country list cited there pertain to the family Rosaceae rather than to this species, which is genuinely a high-alpine Himalayan endemic. It grows on exposed rocky ridges, screes, gravelly flats and crevices, typically between about 3500 and 5000 m. The illustrated plants come from Labana in Bhutan (4100 m, June), Khiar Kutti in Garhwal, India (3900 m, June), and Yume Samdong in Sikkim (4400 m, August), all severe high-alpine stations.

The plant forms dense, low cushions or mats from a woody, much-branched rootstock clothed in persistent old leaf bases. The leaves are crowded, small and pinnate with several pairs of tiny, closely set leaflets (the epithet microphylla, small-leaved), the leaflets often coriaceous, revolute-margined and silky or glabrescent. The flowers are usually solitary on short stalks barely exceeding the foliage, with five yellow, broadly obcordate petals longer than the sepals, an epicalyx, numerous stamens and a central cluster of carpels. The fruit is an aggregate of small dry achenes seated on a hairy receptacle.

Within Potentilla this species belongs to the dwarf, densely caespitose alpine cinquefoils, its compact cushion habit conserving warmth and moisture against wind and intense radiation. It is readily distinguished from the finely dissected P. coriandrifolia by its small, regularly pinnate, leathery leaflets. The species is widespread across its high-elevation belt and not of conservation concern, but is a characteristic component of fragile alpine cushion communities.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Soják monograph of Potentilla

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

Rosaceae

Potentilla peduncularis

by GP Jürgens

D. Don

Sikkim2011 228
Sikkim Yumthang 3700m, June
BhutanPG2011 224
Bhutan Tsochenchen, 3600m June

Description

Potentilla peduncularis is a Sino-Himalayan cinquefoil recorded in GBIF from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Pakistan and Myanmar across 239 occurrences. It occupies alpine and subalpine meadows, grassy slopes, open scrub and stream margins, typically between 3000 and 4300 m. The photographed plants were recorded at Yumthang in Sikkim at about 3700 m and at Tsochenchen in Bhutan at 3600 m, both in June, when long days and snow-melt moisture drive the early summer flush of flowering on these high pastures.

It is a tufted perennial herb arising from a stout, woody, branched rootstock, producing ascending to spreading flowering stems 15-40 cm tall that are clothed in spreading hairs. The leaves are pinnate (imparipinnate) with several pairs of oblong, deeply serrate to incised leaflets that are green and pilose above and densely white- to grey-tomentose beneath, giving a bicoloured aspect. The inflorescence is a lax, long-pedunculate cyme of yellow flowers, each with five sepals alternating with epicalyx segments, five obcordate petals, and numerous stamens surrounding a domed receptacle of carpels. The fruit is an aggregate of small, glabrous achenes.

Although widely accepted, the name is treated in GBIF as a synonym, with Potentilla peduncularis itself given as the accepted name; the species sits within the large, taxonomically intricate genus Potentilla (Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae), where the dense white leaf indumentum is a useful diagnostic among Himalayan yellow-flowered cinquefoils. Pollination is by generalist insects, and the dry achenes are dispersed passively. It is locally frequent and not regarded as threatened.

Author: D. Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Pakistan, Soják revision of Asian Potentilla

Rosaceae

Potentilla polyphylla

by GP Jürgens

Schur

BhutanPG2011 396
Bhutan Tsochenchen, 3550m June
D444371527264B45943B2C738598F852 1
Bhutan Dur-Tso-Chu, 3500m June

Description

Potentilla polyphylla is a Himalayan and Sino-Himalayan cinquefoil ranging through Nepal, north-east India, Bhutan, south-west China, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with 340 georeferenced occurrences. It is a plant of open alpine and subalpine habitats, occupying grassy slopes, meadows, rocky banks, stream margins and the moist turf around glacial lakes. The Bhutan collections at Tsochenchen (3550 m) and Dur-Tso-Chu (3500 m), both in June, place it firmly in the high-alpine zone, typically between about 3000 and 4300 m. GBIF treats the supplied name as a synonym while retaining Potentilla polyphylla as the accepted name; it has at times been confused with Potentilla leuconota.

It is a perennial herb arising from a stout, woody rootstock, producing tufted basal leaves and ascending flowering stems. The leaves are pinnately compound (interrupted-pinnate) with numerous small, closely set, oblong-obovate leaflets that are sharply toothed and silky-hairy, especially beneath. The flowers are borne in lax terminal cymes; each has five green sepals alternating with an epicalyx, five rounded yellow petals, numerous stamens, and many free carpels seated on a hairy receptacle. The fruit is a cluster of small dry achenes.

Within the large genus Potentilla the species sits among the pinnate-leaved high-mountain cinquefoils, a taxonomically intricate group where leaf division and indumentum provide key diagnostic characters. The open yellow flowers are pollinated by a variety of alpine insects. Widely distributed across the Himalayan arc and tolerant of grazed pasture, it is not regarded as threatened, and like other alpine Potentilla species it has local ethnobotanical uses.

Author: Schur · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Soják Potentilla taxonomic revisions

Rosaceae

Potentilla saundersiana var. caespitosa

by GP Jürgens

(Wolf) Soják

Bh2008 595 P890
Bhutan Chele-La, 3950m June

Description

A high-alpine cushion-forming herb of the central and eastern Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, recorded across China, Nepal, India and Pakistan, with some 175 georeferenced GBIF occurrences. It occupies dry, open alpine turf, gravelly slopes, rocky ledges and exposed ridge crests, typically between about 3500 and 5000 m. The depicted plant was photographed in June on the Chele-La in western Bhutan at roughly 3950 m, a windswept pass habitat where dwarfed, mat-forming growth is favoured under intense insolation, cold nights and a short summer growing season.

The taxon forms dense, low caespitose tufts arising from a thick, branched, often woody-based rootstock crowned with marcescent stipules and leaf remnants. The leaves are digitate (palmate), with three to five obovate, deeply incised-serrate leaflets that are green and sparsely strigose above and densely white-tomentose beneath, the indumentum giving the foliage a silvery cast. Slender, ascending cymes bear few yellow flowers; each has five sepals alternating with smaller epicalyx segments, five obcordate golden petals slightly exceeding the calyx, numerous stamens and an apocarpous gynoecium of many free carpels. The fruit is a cluster of small, glabrous, smooth to faintly rugose achenes.

GBIF treats the name as a synonym, with Potentilla saundersiana caespitosa accepted; the variety represents a compact, densely tufted high-elevation expression of the widespread, polymorphic P. saundersiana complex. The species is one of many silvery alpine cinquefoils whose infraspecific limits remain debated. Ecologically it stabilises thin alpine soils and provides nectar to short-season pollinators. Though local populations are restricted to specialised habitats, the broad geographic range and abundance of suitable terrain mean it is not regarded as threatened.

Author: (Wolf) Soják · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Soják revisions of Potentilla

Rosaceae

Potentilla saundersiana var. jaquemontii

by GP Jürgens

Franch.

BhutanPG2011 236
Bhutan Tsochenchen, 3700m June
Also included: Calathodes palmata Hook.f. & Thomson

Description

Potentilla saundersiana (the variety jaquemontii here referred to it) is a cushion-forming cinquefoil of the high mountains of Central Asia and the Himalaya, ranging through China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Pakistan, with GBIF recording over 1000 occurrences; the European points from Germany, France and Sweden reflect herbarium and cultivated material. It is a plant of stony alpine meadows, gravelly slopes, rock crevices and dry pastures in the alpine and subnival zones, frequently above 3500 m and reaching well over 4500 m. The illustrated plant from Tsochenchen in Bhutan at 3700 m, flowering in June, is typical of these exposed, well-drained high-altitude sites; the caption notes the co-occurring Calathodes palmata.

It is a low, tufted perennial herb arising from a stout, branched, woody rootstock (caudex) clothed in old leaf-bases, forming compact mats. The leaves are digitate (palmate), with several narrow, deeply toothed leaflets that are densely white-tomentose, especially beneath, giving the foliage a silvery, felted appearance adapted to drought and cold. The flowers are borne in lax cymes on slender stems; each has five yellow obcordate petals, an epicalyx alternating with the five calyx lobes, and numerous stamens. The fruit is an aggregate of dry achenes seated on a hairy receptacle.

Within the large and taxonomically complex genus Potentilla, P. saundersiana belongs to a group of densely tomentose, alpine cushion cinquefoils, and infraspecific variants such as var. jaquemontii reflect variation in indumentum and leaflet form across its wide range. Abundant and widespread, it is of no conservation concern.

Author: Franch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Potentilla (Th. Wolf monograph)

Rosaceae

Potentilla sundaica

by GP Jürgens

(Blume) W.Theob.

Bh09 186 G323
Bhutan Phajoding, 3700m June

Description

Potentilla sundaica (Blume) W.Theob. is a widespread perennial cinquefoil ranging across tropical and subtropical Asia from the Himalaya (Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan) through China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan into South-East Asia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Russian Far East, the GBIF dataset recording some 5,300 occurrences over this broad area. It is a plant of open grassy slopes, forest clearings, roadsides, streambanks and disturbed montane ground, ascending from lowland to high-montane elevations. The illustrated collection comes from Phajoding above Thimphu in Bhutan at 3700 m in June, near the upper part of its altitudinal range, where it grows in moist alpine to subalpine turf.

It is a slender perennial or sometimes short-lived herb with ascending to decumbent, often reddish, hairy stems arising from a slender rootstock. The leaves are mostly ternate, occasionally with an additional pair of leaflets, the leaflets obovate to oblong-cuneate, coarsely serrate to dentate in the upper part and clothed with appressed to spreading hairs; the leaves are stipulate at the base. The flowers are borne in lax, few- to several-flowered cymes, each with an epicalyx of bracteoles alternating with the five calyx lobes and five obovate yellow petals roughly equalling or shorter than the sepals. Numerous stamens surround a domed receptacle bearing many carpels. The fruit is an aggregate of small, smooth to faintly wrinkled achenes seated on a slightly hairy receptacle.

Long known under the name Potentilla kleiniana, this species is a member of the taxonomically difficult P. sundaica complex, whose variable leaf division and indumentum have generated numerous synonyms and infraspecific names across its vast range. As a hardy colonist of open and disturbed habitats it is ecologically a pioneer of grasslands and trodden ground, and it is a frequent component of grazed montane pasture. Given its abundance and ecological amplitude it is of no conservation concern, ranking among the more ubiquitous Asian cinquefoils.

Author: (Blume) W.Theob. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Potentilla of the Sino-Himalaya (Soják)

Primulaceae

Primula atrodentata

by GP Jürgens

W.W. Sm.

Bhutan2014 924
Bhutan Chele-La 4000m, May
Bhutan2014 926
Bhutan Chele-La 4000m, May
Bh2008 588 G880
Bhutan Chele-La 3900m April

Description

Primula atrodentata is a small alpine primrose of the high eastern and central Himalaya, native to China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Pakistan, with about 161 georeferenced records confined to the upper subalpine and alpine zones. It grows on damp open slopes, alpine meadows, rocky turf and the margins of snow-melt seepages, typically between about 3000 and 4500 m. The photographed plants were recorded at the Chele-La in western Bhutan at 3900-4000 m, flowering in April and May immediately after snow-melt, when these cushion-forming primulas carpet the freshly exposed turf.

The species is a low, tufted perennial herb with a short rhizome and a basal rosette of obovate to spathulate leaves, the blade narrowed to a winged petiole, the margins finely toothed and the undersurface mealy with white or yellowish farina; the rosettes are often clothed at the base with persistent bud-scales. The flowers are borne in a dense, globose terminal umbel atop a slender, farinose scape that elongates after anthesis. The corolla is salver-shaped with a slender tube and spreading, notched lobes, coloured pale lilac to violet or rarely white, with a small yellow eye. The fruit is a small ovoid capsule shorter than the persistent calyx.

Primula atrodentata belongs to section Capitatae of the genus, the dense-headed primulas, distinguished by its compact globose umbel and toothed, farinose leaves; the epithet refers to the dark-tipped (atro-) teeth of the leaf margin and calyx. A characteristic early-flowering snow-melt species, it is heterostylous and insect-pollinated. Widespread and locally abundant across its alpine range, it is not regarded as threatened.

Author: W.W. Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, The Genus Primula (Richards)