Tag:

Bhutan

Flowers of Bhutan — 1326 plant species documented across the Bhutanese Himalaya, from dense broadleaf and conifer forests to alpine scrub and meadows. Bhutan’s largely intact wilderness shelters an exceptional diversity of orchids, rhododendrons, primulas and Himalayan poppies, many of them regional endemics. Each species page includes a botanical description, distribution, habitat and flowering time, with the original photograph and its recorded altitude and locality.

Orchideaceae

Vanda bicolor

by GP Jürgens

Griff.

Bhutan2014 121
Bhutan Trashigang 1550m, May
Bhutan2014 122
Bhutan Trashigang 1550m, May

Description

Vanda bicolor is a comparatively rare epiphytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya, known from Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal and adjacent southern China, with GBIF recording only about 35 occurrences that underline its localised distribution. It grows on the trunks and larger limbs of trees in warm-temperate to subtropical broad-leaved forest, generally at lower-montane elevations between roughly 1000 and 1800 m, in humid, partially shaded conditions. The illustrated plant from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan at 1550 m, flowering in May, is typical of the foothill forests where the species reaches its centre of abundance.

A monopodial epiphyte, it forms a stout, erect to ascending stem clothed in two ranks of strap-shaped (ligulate), leathery, channelled leaves with unequally bilobed, praemorse tips, and produces thick aerial roots. The inflorescence is a short, few- to several-flowered axillary raceme of large, fleshy, fragrant flowers. As the epithet indicates, the flowers are bicoloured: sepals and petals are broad, somewhat clawed and tessellated or flushed brownish over a paler ground, contrasting with the small, trilobed, spurred labellum. The fruit is an elongate, ribbed dehiscent capsule containing copious minute seeds.

Vanda comprises strap-leaved monopodial orchids of tropical Asia, within which V. bicolor is set apart by its flower colouration and labellum structure. Like all Vanda it is listed on CITES Appendix II, and its naturally restricted range, low population density and desirability to collectors make it vulnerable to habitat loss and illegal trade, warranting careful local protection.

Author: Griff. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Orchids of Bhutan, Genera Orchidacearum (Pridgeon et al.)

Orchideaceae

Vanda cristata

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex Lindl.

Nepal 1994 224 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Mewa-Khola 1900m April 

Description

Vanda cristata is an epiphytic orchid distributed along the Himalaya from northern India through Nepal and Bhutan into southwestern China, with cultivated and naturalised records reflected in the GBIF dataset (136 occurrences across NP, IN, BT, CN and horticultural reports from CR, DE, TH and US). It inhabits humid, broad-leaved and mixed evergreen forest belts, growing as a twig and trunk epiphyte in dappled light, typically at montane elevations between roughly 1200 and 2200 m. The plant photographed in eastern Nepal in the Mewa Khola valley at about 1900 m in April illustrates its characteristic flowering during the pre-monsoon dry season, when cooler nights and high atmospheric humidity prevail.

The species is a compact, monopodial epiphyte with a short, erect stem clothed in the persistent imbricate bases of distichous leaves. The leaves are linear-ligulate, coriaceous, channelled above and unequally bilobed at the apex. Few-flowered racemes arise laterally from the leaf axils, bearing one to several long-lasting, waxy, fragrant flowers. The sepals and petals are yellowish-green, oblong and somewhat reflexed, while the three-lobed labellum is the diagnostic feature: the small lateral lobes flank a prominent fleshy mid-lobe marked with crimson to maroon longitudinal striations, narrowing to a sharply forked or bristled apex. The short column bears a terminal anther with waxy pollinia.

Within Vanda, V. cristata belongs to a group of small-statured, cool-growing Himalayan species and is sometimes placed in the segregate genus Trudelia, a treatment not adopted by POWO. Pollination is by bees attracted to the patterned labellum, and the long flowering period favours outcrossing. As with most showy Vanda species it is subject to horticultural collection pressure, and although not formally assessed as threatened it is protected under CITES Appendix II governing international trade in wild-collected orchids.

Author: Wall. ex Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, The Genus Vanda (Motes)

Orchideaceae

Vanda griffithii

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Bhutan2014 269
Bhutan Trithangebe near a farmhouse 700m, May

Description

Vanda griffithii is an epiphytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya, documented in GBIF from Bhutan, India and Nepal across a modest 19 occurrences, reflecting both its localised distribution and the under-collection of canopy epiphytes. It inhabits warm to cool broad-leaved forest, growing on tree trunks and branches at low to mid elevations, roughly 700-1800 m. The photographed plant was recorded in Bhutan at Trithangebe, perched near a farmhouse at about 700 m in May, illustrating its tolerance of disturbed and semi-cultivated settings where suitable phorophytes persist.

It is a monopodial epiphyte with a short to elongate stem clothed in distichous, ligulate, leathery leaves that are channelled and obliquely praemorse (toothed) at the apex, with stout aerial roots anchoring the plant. The inflorescence is a short axillary raceme of a few fleshy, long-lived flowers; the sepals and petals are subequal, spreading, typically greenish-yellow to brownish and often barred or tessellated, while the small three-lobed labellum bears a saccate or shortly spurred base characteristic of the genus. The column is short and footless, with a beaked anther cap and waxy pollinia, and fertilised flowers develop into an elongate, ribbed capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

Vanda (Orchidaceae, subtribe Aeridinae) is a horticulturally celebrated genus of monopodial epiphytes, and like all orchids it is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade. Reproduction depends on specific pollinators and mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination. Its narrow Himalayan range and reliance on intact forest canopy render it vulnerable to deforestation and over-collection for the ornamental trade.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, The Orchids of Bhutan, CITES Appendix II listing, Genera Orchidacearum

Scrophulariaceae

Verbascum thapsus

by GP Jürgens

L.

Bh09 357 P574
Bhutan Wangdi, 2400m June

Description

Verbascum thapsus L., common or great mullein, is a robust biennial herb native to Europe and western Asia and now one of the most widely naturalised plants on Earth. The enormous GBIF dataset (over 340,000 occurrences) reflects its near-cosmopolitan spread across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and temperate Asia, including the Himalaya. It is a pioneer of open, disturbed, well-drained sites: roadsides, pastures, river gravels, fallow ground and waste places. The plant photographed at Wangdi in Bhutan at 2,400 m in June illustrates its successful establishment in the warm-temperate Himalayan valleys, where it behaves as a ruderal colonist of disturbed terrain.

In its first year the plant forms a dense basal rosette of large, oblong to obovate leaves; in the second it produces a stout, usually unbranched flowering stem up to 2 m tall. The whole plant is densely covered with soft, branched, stellate-woolly hairs giving a greyish, felted appearance and reducing water loss and herbivory. Leaves are decurrent along the stem. The inflorescence is a long, dense, spike-like raceme of yellow flowers; each flower has a five-lobed, slightly irregular rotate corolla and five stamens, the upper three with woolly white or yellowish filament hairs. The fruit is an ovoid septicidal capsule packed with very numerous minute seeds.

A single plant can produce hundreds of thousands of long-lived seeds, underpinning its weediness and its classification as an invasive species in parts of North America and Australasia. The placement of Verbascum has shifted between Scrophulariaceae and a narrowly circumscribed family in modern phylogenetic systems, but it is most often retained in Scrophulariaceae sensu APG. Long used in traditional medicine for respiratory complaints, it remains of pharmacological and ecological interest as a model colonising ruderal.

Author: L. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Pakistan, Flora of China Vol. 18, GBIF, Murbeck: Monographie der Gattung Verbascum (1933)

Plantaginaceae

Veronica cana

by G & P Jürgens

Wall. ex Benth.

Sikkim 2006 333 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tolung 2450m, May

Description

Veronica cana is a Himalayan speedwell distributed from Pakistan and northern India (Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh) through Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar to southwestern China (Xizang, Yunnan) and Japan. It occurs in open forest clearings, grassy slopes, rocky banks, and montane scrub at elevations of 1,500–3,500 m. The species has been recorded from the Tolung area in West Bengal at 2,450 m, where it flowers in May during the pre-monsoon season. It favours well-drained, often stony soils in areas receiving moderate to high rainfall.
Veronica cana is an erect to ascending perennial herb, 15–40 cm tall, arising from a slender, creeping rhizome. The stems are simple or sparingly branched, densely covered with short, grey-white, appressed hairs that give the plant a characteristically canescent appearance — hence the epithet "cana" (grey-haired). Leaves are opposite, sessile or subsessile, ovate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, with a crenate to serrate margin and dense, soft pubescence on both surfaces. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 5–15 cm long, bearing numerous flowers on short, erect pedicels. The corolla is rotate, four-lobed, 5–8 mm in diameter, pale blue to lilac with darker veins. Stamens are two, exserted. The fruit is an obcordate, compressed capsule 3–5 mm wide, emarginate at the apex, containing numerous minute seeds.
Veronica cana belongs to a complex of pubescent, racemose-flowered Himalayan speedwells that have been variously treated taxonomically. Molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that Veronica in the broad sense (including former Pseudolysimachion and Veronicastrum segregates) is monophyletic within Plantaginaceae. V. cana is distinguished from the related V. laxa by its denser canescent indumentum and more compact racemes. Ecologically, the species is a characteristic element of Himalayan montane grasslands and forest-edge communities, contributing to ground-layer diversity in habitats increasingly threatened by overgrazing and land-use intensification.

Author: Wall. ex Benth. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 18, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Albach et al.: Phylogeny of Veronica (2004)

Adoxaceae

Viburnum cotinifolium

by GP Jürgens

D. Don

Bhutan2014 863
Bhutan Chele-La 3100m, May
Bhutan2014 965
Bhutan Chele-La 3400m, May
Bh2008 554 P838
Bhutan Paro 1950m April

Description

Viburnum cotinifolium is a Himalayan and Central Asian shrub distributed from Afghanistan and Pakistan eastward through Kashmir and the Indian Himalaya, Nepal and Bhutan to western and southwestern China; GBIF records 714 occurrences, principally from Pakistan, Nepal, India, China and Bhutan. It inhabits open temperate forest, scrub, forest margins, ravines and dry rocky slopes, mostly between about 1500 and 3500 m. The cited records from Chele-La in Bhutan at 3100 and 3400 m in May and from Paro at 1950 m in April illustrate its broad elevational range and its spring flowering, when the white-pink corymbs open as the new foliage flushes in the western Bhutanese borderlands.

It is a deciduous shrub with stellate-tomentose young branchlets and opposite, broadly ovate to orbicular leaves that recall those of Cotinus (whence the epithet), the blades entire to obscurely toothed, three- to five-veined at the base and densely grey stellate-pubescent beneath. The flowers are small, white tinged pink, all fertile and aggregated into dense, rounded, peduncled corymbose cymes; each has a short campanulate corolla with five spreading lobes. The fruit is an ovoid, somewhat compressed drupe ripening from red to glossy black, containing a single flattened, grooved stone, and is edible.

The species belongs to Viburnum, transferred with the genus from the traditional Caprifoliaceae to the Adoxaceae on molecular evidence. Its showy fertile corymbs attract diverse insect pollinators, while the colourful drupes are dispersed by birds; the fruits are also gathered locally for food. Widespread, hardy and ornamental, it is cultivated in temperate gardens and is of least conservation concern throughout its extensive range.

Author: D. Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Pakistan, A Monograph of the Genus Viburnum (Kern / Hara studies)

Adoxaceae

Viburnum cylindricum

by GP Jürgens

Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don

Bhutan2012 525
Bhutan Wangdi 2400m, September

Description

Viburnum cylindricum is a widespread evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub to small tree of the Sino-Himalayan and Indochinese region, exceptionally well documented with over 5700 GBIF occurrences spanning China, Nepal, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam, Laos and beyond, together with numerous cultivated and introduced records in Europe, North America and elsewhere reflecting its horticultural use. It grows in open forests, thickets, forest margins and scrub on hill slopes, typically between 1000 and 3000 m. The plant photographed near Wangdi in Bhutan at about 2400 m in September occupies this mid-montane belt, flowering and fruiting in the post-monsoon period within the warm-temperate broad-leaved forest zone of the eastern Himalaya.

It is an erect, glabrous-twigged shrub or small tree reaching several metres, immediately recognisable by its leathery, glaucous leaves whose surface bears a waxy bloom that can be marked or written upon. The leaves are opposite, simple, elliptic to oblong, entire or obscurely toothed towards the apex, and often somewhat blue-grey beneath. The inflorescence is a large, flat-topped to slightly domed terminal compound cyme of small white to pinkish-white flowers, each with a five-lobed campanulate to tubular corolla and long-exserted stamens that give the open umbel a delicate, brush-like appearance. The fruit is a small ovoid to ellipsoid drupe ripening from red to blue-black, containing a single compressed stone and dispersed by birds.

Viburnum is now placed in Adoxaceae following molecular phylogenetic revision of the old Caprifoliaceae, and V. cylindricum belongs to section Megalotinus, a predominantly tropical to subtropical Asian assemblage. The waxy, exserted-stamened flowers and bird-dispersed drupes are typical of the section. The species is locally used in traditional medicine, and the leaf wax has been put to minor practical uses. Owing to its very broad geographic and altitudinal range and tolerance of disturbed habitat it is of no conservation concern, ranking among the most frequently encountered viburnums of the eastern Himalaya and southwestern China.

Author: Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Kern Revision of Viburnum sect. Megalotinus

Adoxaceae

Viburnum erubescens

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex. DC.

Sikkim2004 111 G188
India West-Bengal, Utaray 2000m April
Sikkim 2006 353 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tamrong 2700m, May

Description

Viburnum erubescens Wall. ex DC. is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub of the Adoxaceae, widespread across the Himalaya and into East and Southeast Asia. GBIF data (over 2,800 occurrences) record it from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Taiwan, and beyond, indicating a broad Sino-Himalayan range. It was photographed in West Bengal at Utaray (2,000 m, April) and Tamrong (2,700 m, May), typical of its occurrence in temperate broad-leaved and mixed forests, forest margins, and shrubberies between roughly 1,500 and 3,000 m, where it flowers in spring as the new foliage expands.

The plant forms a shrub to small tree with opposite, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate leaves that are finely serrate, acuminate, and sparsely hairy on the veins beneath. The flowers are borne in pendulous, paniculate cymes; the corolla is tubular with five spreading lobes, white flushed with pink (the epithet "erubescens" meaning blushing), and sweetly fragrant. The fruit is a small ovoid drupe that ripens from red to glossy black, containing a single compressed stone, and is readily taken by birds.

Viburnum, long placed in Caprifoliaceae, is now referred to Adoxaceae on molecular grounds. Viburnum erubescens is a variable species comprising several recognised varieties across its range, and its pendulous, tubular-flowered inflorescences distinguish it from most co-occurring Himalayan congeners. Widespread, adaptable, and locally common, it is of no conservation concern and is valued horticulturally as an ornamental flowering shrub.

Author: Wall. ex. DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, GBIF, Kern: Revision of Asian Viburnum

Adoxaceae

Viburnum grandiflorum

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex DC.

Bhutan2014 977
Bhutan Chele-La 3500m, May
Bhutan2014 978
Bhutan Chele-La 3500m, May

Description

Viburnum grandiflorum is a Himalayan shrub distributed from Pakistan and north-west India through Nepal, Bhutan and adjacent south-western China; records from Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Canada and Korea reflect its cultivation as an ornamental rather than a natural range. It occurs in the upper temperate to subalpine zone, in forest margins, open scrub, Rhododendron thickets and rocky slopes, generally between about 2,400 and 3,900 m. The shrub photographed at the Chele La in western Bhutan at 3,500 m in May illustrates its spring flowering high in the inner ranges, the inflorescences often expanding before the leaves are fully out.

It is a deciduous shrub of moderate stature with stiff, spreading branches. The leaves are opposite, elliptic to oblong-ovate, with a serrate to crenate-serrate margin, acuminate apex, prominent impressed venation above and pubescence along the veins beneath, often colouring richly in autumn. The flowers are borne in dense, rounded, terminal corymbose cymes; the corolla is tubular-funnelform with five spreading lobes, comparatively large for the genus (whence "grandiflorum"), pink to rose in bud and opening paler, fragrant. The fruit is an ovoid drupe ripening from red to blue-black, containing a single compressed stone.

Viburnum, long placed in Caprifoliaceae, is now referred to Adoxaceae on molecular grounds, allied to Sambucus and Adoxa. The species is closely related to V. nervosum and other Himalayan members of section Pseudotinus, with which it can be confused. Hardy and ornamental, it is established in temperate horticulture and has contributed to garden hybrids; in the wild it remains widespread and is not considered threatened.

Author: Wall. ex DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, GBIF, Kern: Revision of Viburnum (Asia)

Viburnaceae

Viburnum nervosum

by G & P Jürgens

D.Don

Sikkim 2006 369 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tamrong 2800m, May

Description

Viburnum nervosum is a deciduous shrub or small tree of the temperate Himalaya and adjacent mountains, documented by GBIF (1437 occurrences) from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Taiwan, with further records reflecting cultivation elsewhere. It grows in moist temperate forest, forest margins, rhododendron thickets and open slopes, typically between about 2400 and 3600 m. The collection from Tamrong in West Bengal at 2800 m in May reflects its montane forest setting, where it is conspicuous in spring, often flowering on bare branches before or as the leaves expand in the cool, humid middle-mountain belt.

The plant is a shrub or small tree with stout twigs and prominent buds, the young growth and inflorescence somewhat stellate-pubescent. The leaves are opposite, broadly ovate to elliptic, cordate at the base, serrate, and strongly marked by deeply impressed, parallel lateral veins from which the epithet derives. The inflorescence is a rounded to flat-topped terminal cyme of small, fragrant, white to pinkish flowers, each with a short campanulate corolla of five lobes and five exserted stamens. The fruit is a small, ellipsoid drupe ripening from red to black, containing a single compressed stone.

Viburnum, long placed in Caprifoliaceae but here treated within Viburnaceae (Adoxaceae sensu lato), is distinguished by opposite simple leaves, cymose inflorescences and one-seeded drupes. The strongly nerved leaves and early-spring flowering readily characterise this species among Himalayan viburnums. Its fleshy fruits are dispersed by birds, and it regenerates well in forest gaps. Widespread and locally common, V. nervosum is of no conservation concern.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Kern & Hara Viburnum of the Himalaya (Flora of Eastern Himalaya)