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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.

Violaceae

Viola betonicifolia

by GP Jürgens

Sm.

Bhutan2014 109
Bhutan Trashigang 1550m, May

Description

Viola betonicifolia is a widespread, polymorphic violet ranging across South, East and Southeast Asia to Australasia, documented by GBIF in over 16,600 occurrences spanning Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and beyond. It grows in open grassland, meadows, grassy slopes, forest margins, roadsides and disturbed ground from low elevations to over 3000 m, tolerating a broad range of subtropical to temperate conditions. The illustrated plant from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan at about 1550 m, flowering in May, represents a low-montane subtropical population at the warm end of this exceptionally wide ecological amplitude.

It is an acaulescent perennial herb forming a basal rosette from a short, stout rhizome. The leaves are erect and long-petioled, the blade narrowly triangular-lanceolate to hastate or oblong with a truncate to subcordate base and a crenate to entire margin, recalling those of Betonica (whence the epithet 'betony-leaved'); the stipules are adnate to the petiole and fimbriate. Solitary flowers are borne on slender bracteolate peduncles; the zygomorphic corolla of five unequal petals is violet to purple (rarely white), the lowest spurred and the laterals usually bearded. Summer cleistogamous flowers supplement the spring chasmogamous ones, and the fruit is an elastically dehiscent three-valved capsule.

A member of Viola section Viola (the stemless, spring-flowering rosette violets), V. betonicifolia is a notoriously variable species treated by some authors as a complex of regional forms. Its tolerance of disturbance, dual chasmogamous-cleistogamous breeding system and effective seed dispersal underpin its broad distribution, and it is of no conservation concern.

Author: Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of British India, W. Becker Violae Asiaticae

Violaceae

Viola bhutanica

by G & P Jürgens

Hara

Bhutan2014 205
Bhutan Trashyangtse 2100m, May

Description

Viola bhutanica is a rare and range-restricted species endemic to Bhutan with marginal occurrence in adjacent parts of southern China. With only eight occurrences recorded in GBIF, it is among the least collected violets in the Himalayan region. The species inhabits moist, shaded forest floors in warm-temperate to subtropical broadleaved forests at elevations of 1,800–2,500 m, growing on humus-rich soils among mosses and leaf litter. The collection from Trashyangtse district in eastern Bhutan at 2,100 m typifies its preferred habitat in the moist valleys of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot.
Viola bhutanica is a perennial, acaulescent herb with a short, erect rhizome. Leaves are basal, long-petiolate, with ovate to broadly ovate blades 3–6 cm long, cordate at the base, crenate-serrate along the margins, and sparsely pubescent on both surfaces. Peduncles are slender, arising from the rootstock, exceeding the leaves, each bearing a single zygomorphic flower. Flowers are 1.5–2 cm across, with pale violet to lilac petals; the lateral petals are bearded, and the lowest petal bears a short, obtuse spur 3–5 mm long with darker violet veining that serves as a nectar guide. The fruit is an ellipsoid capsule dehiscing explosively by three valves, projecting seeds several centimetres from the parent plant.
Described by H. Hara in 1971, Viola bhutanica remains one of the most poorly known Himalayan violets. Its extreme rarity in herbarium collections and the very low number of GBIF records suggest either genuine scarcity or significant under-collection in its remote eastern Bhutanese habitats. The species belongs to the section Nomimium and is morphologically allied to V. pilosa, differing in its leaf indumentum and spur morphology. Given its highly restricted known range and the increasing pressures of land-use change in subtropical eastern Bhutan, V. bhutanica merits conservation assessment and targeted field surveys to clarify its population status.

Author: Hara · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Hara: Flora of Eastern Himalaya (1971), Noltie: Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3 (2000)

Violaceae

Viola biflora

by GP Jürgens

L.

BhutanPG2011 200
also included: Herminium duthiei Bhutan 2011
Bh09 246 P412
Bhutan Pele-La 3000m, April

Description

Viola biflora is a circumboreal, arctic-alpine herb with one of the widest distributions in the genus, the GBIF dataset of over 83000 records spanning the mountains of Europe (France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Poland), Russia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal and North America. It grows in cool, moist montane to alpine habitats: shaded rock ledges, streamsides, damp turf, mossy banks and conifer-forest margins, ascending well above the treeline. The photographed plant from the Pele-La in Bhutan at 3000 m in April, where it grew alongside the orchid Herminium duthiei, exemplifies its occurrence in high Himalayan meadow and rock-crevice communities flushed by snowmelt.

It is a small, delicate perennial herb arising from a slender creeping rhizome, with weak ascending stems 5–15 cm tall. The leaves are reniform to broadly cordate, crenate-margined, thin-textured and bright green, the basal ones long-petiolate. The flowers are characteristically borne one or two per axil (hence the epithet biflora) on slender pedicels; the corolla is small, bright yellow, with five petals, the lowest petal broadest and conspicuously veined with fine brown-purple nectar-guide striae, and produced into a short blunt spur. The five stamens surround a superior ovary maturing into a small loculicidal capsule that splits into three valves, ejecting the seeds.

Viola biflora is the type of section Chamaemelanium and is exceptional among violets for its yellow flowers and circumpolar range, with numerous regional varieties recognised across its vast area. The nectar-guided flowers attract small bees and hoverflies, and explosive capsule dehiscence aids seed dispersal. Widespread and abundant, it is of least conservation concern.

Author: L. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, Violets of the World (Marcussen et al.)

Violaceae

Viola hamiltoniana

by GP Jürgens

D. Don

Bh2008 157 P257
Bhutan Chendebji, 2500m April
Sikkim 2006 288 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Chaana 1700m, May

Description

Viola hamiltoniana D.Don is a small perennial violet of the temperate Himalaya and East Asia. GBIF documents a broad distribution including Nepal, NE India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the Russian Far East and Southeast Asia, with over 10,000 records, reflecting its place within a widespread and taxonomically intricate East Asian complex. In the Himalaya it grows in moist temperate forest, on grassy banks and shaded slopes; the illustrated plants are from Bhutan at Chendebji, 2,500 m, in April, and from West Bengal at Chaana, 1,700 m, in May, the flowering season of early spring.

The plant is a low, acaulescent or shortly stemmed herb arising from a slender rhizome, sometimes producing stolons. The leaves are basal in a loose rosette, the blades ovate to oblong-lanceolate or cordate with a crenate to serrate margin and a long, slender petiole, the stipules narrow and entire to fimbriate. Flowers are solitary on long axillary peduncles, zygomorphic and spurred in typical violet fashion, white to pale lilac or bluish with darker veining on the lower petal and a short blunt spur; cleistogamous flowers are commonly produced later in the season. The fruit is a three-valved loculicidal capsule that dehisces explosively to disperse the smooth seeds.

Viola section taxa of the Himalaya are notoriously variable, and V. hamiltoniana has been variously circumscribed and synonymised within the East Asian violet complex. The frequent cleistogamy ensures reliable seed set, contributing to its wide range and abundance. The species is common and of no conservation concern.

Author: D. Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, W. Becker: Violae Asiaticae

Violaceae

Viola hookeri

by GP Jürgens

Thomson ex Hook.f.

Sikkim2004 73 P128
Sikkim West-Bengal, Bersay 2700m April
Sikkim 2006 160 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Molley 3200m, May

Description

Viola hookeri Thomson ex Hook.f. is a small Himalayan violet of the eastern ranges, occurring in Sikkim, Darjeeling and adjacent India, Nepal and Bhutan. The GBIF figures attached to this record (over 3.8 million occurrences across chiefly European and North American countries) pertain to the genus Viola as a whole, not to this species, whose true range is confined to the temperate eastern Himalaya. It grows in cool, moist, shaded forest, on mossy banks and along path margins. The photographed plants are from the Sikkim-West Bengal border at Bersay (2,700 m, April) and from Molley (3,200 m, May), placing it in the upper temperate to subalpine forest belt.

It is a small acaulescent perennial herb forming a basal rosette from a slender rhizome, without elongated leafy stems. The leaves are long-petiolate, the lamina ovate to cordate-reniform with a crenate margin and a stipulate base. The solitary flowers are borne on slender axillary peduncles and have the characteristic zygomorphic violet structure: five unequal petals, the lowest spurred, white to pale lilac and often violet-veined, with the lower lateral petals sometimes bearded. As in many violets, cleistogamous flowers may also be produced. The fruit is a small, ellipsoid, three-valved loculicidal capsule that splits explosively to eject the smooth seeds.

Viola (Violaceae) is a near-cosmopolitan genus with a strong Himalayan radiation of acaulescent, rosette-forming species adapted to montane woodland. V. hookeri belongs to this eastern Himalayan group, in which basal rosettes, spurred flowers and frequent cleistogamy reflect adaptation to shaded, seasonally cool conditions. The species is not formally assessed but, like its relatives, depends on intact temperate forest.

Author: Thomson ex Hook.f. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Hooker Flora of British India, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Becker conspectus of Viola

Violaceae

Viola moupinensis

by GP Jürgens

Franch.

Sikkim2004 339 G600
Sikkim/India Choka 3000m May

Description

Viola moupinensis Franch. is a stemless perennial violet of the Sino-Himalayan mountains, distributed according to GBIF across China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. It inhabits cool, moist temperate and subalpine forests, shaded grassy slopes, forest margins and stream sides, typically between about 2,000 and 3,500 m. The May record from Choka in Sikkim at 3,000 m reflects its flowering during the spring monsoon onset in mossy, humus-rich woodland, where it grows among ferns and other shade-tolerant herbs in the understorey of mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest.

The species is an acaulescent (rosette-forming) perennial arising from a short, stout rhizome bearing fibrous roots. The leaves are basal, long-petiolate, with broadly cordate to reniform-cordate blades that are crenate-serrate at the margin and somewhat pubescent, often enlarging considerably after flowering. The solitary, long-pedunculate flowers are pale violet to whitish with darker purple veining on the lower petals; the lowermost petal bears a short, blunt spur. As is typical of Viola, the plant also produces self-pollinating cleistogamous flowers later in the season, and the fruit is an ellipsoid, three-valved capsule that dehisces explosively to disperse the seeds, which are further dispersed by ants via their elaiosomes.

Viola moupinensis belongs to section Viola and is closely allied to the temperate stemless violets of Eurasia. Its combination of showy chasmogamous and reliable cleistogamous flowers ensures reproductive success in shaded, insect-poor forest understoreys. As a frequent and adaptable woodland species across a broad elevational and geographic range, it is not of conservation concern but is a valued component of Himalayan spring flora.

Author: Franch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Wang Wencai: Violaceae monographic studies

Violaceae

Viola wallichiana

by GP Jürgens

Ging.

Sikkim2011 165
Sikkim Vista-valley 2500m, June
Sikkim2011 167
Sikkim Vista-valley 2500m, June
Sikkim 2006 460 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Ruigi-Chu 2100m, May

Description

Viola wallichiana is a small perennial herb of the Himalaya, distributed through Nepal, northern India, Sikkim, Bhutan and southwestern China, with peripheral or introduced records noted from Australia; GBIF holds about 79 collections, reflecting a relatively localised eastern Himalayan range. It grows in shaded, moist temperate forest, on mossy banks, humus-covered slopes and shaded rock ledges, typically between about 2000 and 3000 m. The photographed plants were found in Sikkim's Vista valley at around 2500 m in June and in the West Bengal hills at Ruigi-Chu near 2100 m in May, on the cool, sheltered, leaf-littered forest floor it inhabits through late spring and the early monsoon.

The plant is a low, stemless to short-stemmed perennial arising from a slender rhizome, sometimes spreading by short stolons. The leaves are basal or nearly so, long-petiolate, the blade ovate to cordate or reniform with a crenate margin and conspicuous fringed stipules. The flowers are solitary on slender axillary peduncles, zygomorphic and spurred in typical violet fashion, pale violet to bluish or whitish with darker veining on the lower petal, the spur short. Cleistogamous flowers may also be produced. The fruit is a small loculicidal capsule that splits into three valves, ejecting the seeds elastically.

Viola (Violaceae) is a large, cosmopolitan genus, and V. wallichiana belongs to the temperate Himalayan group of rosulate, spurred-flowered violets, commemorating Nathaniel Wallich. Its cordate basal leaves, fringed stipules and pale veined flowers distinguish it from congeners. It is a typical understorey forb of mid-elevation forest, locally common but not assessed as threatened.

Author: Ging. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Becker conspectus of Himalayan Viola

Violaceae

Viola yunnanfuensis

by GP Jürgens

W. Becker

Bhutan2014 959
Bhutan Haa 2640m, May
Bh2008 558 G843
Bhutan Paro 3000m, May

Description

Viola yunnanfuensis is an acaulescent violet of the Eastern Himalaya and southwestern China, documented by GBIF (144 occurrences) from China, Bhutan, India and Taiwan (CN, BT, IN, TW). It grows in the temperate to upper-temperate zone on grassy banks, open forest margins, meadows and disturbed slopes, favouring moist but well-lit ground. The two cited Bhutanese collections, from Haa at about 2640 m and Paro at around 3000 m, both flowering in May, span the typical montane range of roughly 2000-3300 m and reflect its association with the spring flush following snowmelt and early monsoon rains.

The plant is a small, stemless perennial herb forming a basal rosette from a short rhizome and slender roots. The leaves are long-petioled, the blade ovate-cordate to oblong-cordate with a crenate margin and often a sparsely pubescent surface; conspicuous stipules are adnate to the petiole, fimbriate or laciniate. The solitary flowers are borne on slender axillary peduncles bearing two bracteoles; the corolla is zygomorphic, of five unequal petals in shades of violet to purple, the lowest spurred and the laterals often bearded. As in many violets, later-season cleistogamous flowers ensure seed set. The fruit is a small, loculicidal, three-valved capsule that ejects the seeds elastically.

Viola yunnanfuensis belongs to Viola section Viola (the stemless, fibrous-rooted spring violets), a taxonomically intricate group in which Sino-Himalayan species form a diverse and often poorly delimited complex. The combination of obligate spring (chasmogamous) and summer cleistogamous flowering is a hallmark of the section, promoting both outcrossing and reliable reproduction. Widespread and tolerant of moderate disturbance, the species is not considered threatened.

Author: W. Becker · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Violaceae of the Sino-Himalaya, W. Becker Violae Asiaticae

Rubiaceae

Wendlandia heynei

by GP Jürgens

(Schult.) Santapau & Merchant

Nepal 97 42 P62
Nepal Mewa-Khola 1050m April
Nepal 97 43 P63
Nepal Mewa-Khola 1050m April
Sikkim 2006 273 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Lingza 1300m, May

Description

Wendlandia heynei is a shrub or small tree of the Indian subcontinent and its Himalayan foothills, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. GBIF holds some 179 occurrences, the bulk across peninsular and north-eastern India and the lower Himalaya. It is a plant of warm-temperate to subtropical broad-leaved forest, forest margins, ravines and secondary scrub on hill slopes, typically from the plains up to roughly 1500 m. The populations imaged in eastern Nepal at Mewa-Khola (1050 m, April) and in the Darjeeling region of Indian West Bengal at Lingza (1300 m, May) illustrate its place in the moist hill forests of the eastern Himalayan tract, flowering as the pre-monsoon season advances.

The plant is evergreen to semi-deciduous, with terete, often puberulous young branchlets. The leaves are opposite or sometimes ternate, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, entire and acuminate, with interpetiolar stipules typical of the Rubiaceae. The small flowers are crowded in large, much-branched terminal panicles or thyrses that give the tree a frothy, plumose appearance. Each flower has a short-lobed calyx, a white, funnel- to salver-shaped corolla with a slender tube and five spreading lobes, and five included or shortly exserted stamens; the ovary is inferior and bilocular. The fruit is a minute, globose, septicidal capsule containing numerous small angular seeds.

Wendlandia (tribe Wendlandieae) is a genus of around ninety species centred on tropical and subtropical Asia, distinguished by its dense paniculate inflorescences and small capsular fruits. The epithet honours Heyne, and the species has accumulated several synonyms reflecting its wide variability across the subcontinent. As a common, adaptable component of disturbed and secondary hill forest it is not of conservation concern; locally its wood and bark have minor uses.

Author: (Schult.) Santapau & Merchant · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of British India, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, revision of the genus Wendlandia (Cowan)

Lythraceae

Woodfordia fruticosa

by GP Jürgens

Kurz

Bhutan2014 147
Bhutan Trashigang 1470m, May
Nepal 2001 461 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Gunda 1700m, May

Description

Woodfordia fruticosa is a widespread Old World shrub ranging from the Indian subcontinent through China and Southeast Asia to Madagascar and tropical Africa, with GBIF documenting around 1657 occurrences across India, China, Madagascar, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Thailand. It is a plant of warm, seasonally dry habitats, characteristically colonising open hill slopes, rocky outcrops, scrub, forest margins and disturbed ground from the lowlands into the lower hills. The plants recorded at Trashigang in Bhutan at about 1470 m and at Gunda in Gorkha, Nepal at about 1700 m, both in May, illustrate its presence in the subtropical mid-hill zone, where it flushes with bright flowers at the onset of the warm season.

It is a much-branched deciduous shrub with long, often arching or pendulous branches and grey-brown bark. The leaves are opposite or subopposite, sessile to subsessile, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, entire-margined, dull green above and densely whitish- or rusty-tomentose and gland-dotted beneath. The flowers are clustered in short axillary cymes and are conspicuously bright red to orange-red; each has a tubular, slightly curved, ribbed calyx (hypanthium) with short triangular lobes, minute or vestigial petals, and numerous long-exserted stamens, giving the inflorescence a brush-like appearance. The fruit is a small ellipsoid capsule enclosed within the persistent calyx tube, releasing numerous tiny seeds.

The tubular red flowers and copious nectar of W. fruticosa make it strongly ornithophilous, attracting sunbirds and other nectar-feeding birds that act as pollinators, while it is also valued by beekeepers. Dried flowers (known as dhataki) are widely used in traditional medicine and notably as a natural fermentation agent in Ayurvedic preparations, owing to abundant tannins and polyphenols. The sole or near-sole member of its genus, the species is robust, fast-colonising and locally abundant, and is not of conservation concern.

Author: Kurz · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Graham Revision of the Lythraceae of the Indian Subcontinent