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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.

Papaveraceae

Corydalis hookeri

by G & P Jürgens

Prain

Nepal 99 291 ergebnis
Nepal Kalomura 4050m, June

Description

Corydalis hookeri is a high-alpine herb of the central and eastern Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, India, Bhutan and the adjacent Chinese provinces of the Tibetan plateau and Yunnan. GBIF aggregates roughly 111 georeferenced occurrences, a modest figure reflecting both its restricted alpine niche and the difficulty of access to its terrain. It occupies open stony slopes, moist screes, moraine debris and the margins of melting snow-beds, typically between 3500 and 4800 m. The photographed plant from Kalomura in Nepal at about 4050 m in June illustrates its characteristic flowering season, coinciding with the brief window following snowmelt when the short alpine summer permits rapid growth and anthesis on freshly exposed gravels.

The species is a small, glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial arising from a slender tuberous or fibrous rootstock. The stems are weak, often decumbent to ascending and few-branched. Leaves are mostly basal and long-petiolate, the blades two- to three-ternately or pinnately dissected into narrow oblong to linear ultimate segments, imparting a delicate, finely divided aspect. The inflorescence is a lax few-flowered raceme subtended by entire or lobed bracts. Each zygomorphic flower bears four petals, the upper one prolonged backwards into a slender curved spur; the corolla is blue to purplish-blue, frequently with darker tips, an adaptation favouring bumblebee pollination at altitude. The fruit is a slender dehiscent capsule containing several small black shining seeds, often bearing an elaiosome.

Taxonomically the genus Corydalis is exceptionally species-rich in the Sino-Himalayan region, the principal centre of its global diversity, and C. hookeri belongs to one of the alpine blue-flowered assemblages whose delimitation has long challenged monographers. Its seeds are typically myrmecochorous, dispersed by ants attracted to the oily appendage, while the alkaloid-rich tissues characteristic of the genus deter herbivory. No specific conservation threat is documented and the plant appears locally frequent within suitable habitat, though high-altitude endemics of this kind remain potentially sensitive to glacial retreat and warming-driven upward shifts of the alpine zone.

Author: Prain · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 7, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, Lidén & Zetterlund Corydalis: A Gardener's Guide and a Monograph of the Tuberous Species

Papaveraceae

Corydalis juncea

by GP Jürgens

Wall.

Nepal 95 122 P210 ergebnis
Nepal south of Rupien La 3500m October
Nepal 95 123 P211 ergebnis
Nepal south of Rupien La 3500m October

Description

Corydalis juncea is a slender alpine herb of the central and eastern Himalaya. GBIF records place it in Nepal, India, China and Bhutan, with around 148 occurrences reflecting its distribution through the high mountains of the region. It grows on open, dry to moist alpine slopes, gravelly ground, screes and rocky banks at high elevation, where it tolerates the harsh, exposed conditions of the upper montane and alpine belt. The photographed plant from south of the Rupien La in Nepal at 3500 m, recorded in October, illustrates its occurrence in the late-season alpine zone, where it can flower into the autumn before the onset of winter dormancy.

It is an erect, glaucous perennial herb with slender, rush-like, sparingly leafy stems, the epithet juncea alluding to this reed-like habit. The leaves are few, glaucous and divided into narrow, linear segments, the upper ones reduced. The inflorescence is a lax, few-flowered terminal raceme; each flower is markedly zygomorphic, with four petals, the outer upper petal extended backwards into a slender spur, the corolla yellow, often tinged or tipped with purplish-brown. The fruit is a narrow, linear-oblong capsule that splits to release small, shining seeds furnished with an elaiosome.

Corydalis is a large genus of the Fumarioideae, treated within the Papaveraceae, with a marked centre of diversity in the Sino-Himalayan high mountains. C. juncea belongs to the assemblage of yellow-flowered, narrow-leaved Himalayan species adapted to dry, open, high-altitude habitats. As in its relatives, the oil-bearing seed appendage promotes dispersal by ants, while the spurred flowers are pollinated by nectar-seeking bees, and the deep-seated rootstock allows the plant to survive the severe alpine winter.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China (Papaveraceae, Fumarioideae), The Genus Corydalis (Lidén & Zetterlund)

Papaveraceae

Corydalis lathyroides

by GP Jürgens

Prain

Bhutan2012 925
Bhutan Tumching-La 3800m, October
Bhutan2012 926

Description

Corydalis lathyroides Prain is an Eastern Himalayan species known from Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India (gbif_countries: NP, BT, IN), represented by only 28 occurrences in GBIF, indicative of a narrow range and limited collection. It is a plant of high subalpine to alpine habitats, occurring on open slopes, scree margins, scrub and rocky meadows, with a documented occurrence at Tumching-La in Bhutan at 3800 m, where it was photographed in October. This late-autumn record reflects an extended flowering season at the upper forest-to-alpine transition of the monsoonal eastern ranges.

It is a glabrous, glaucous herb with brittle, somewhat fleshy stems and a deep root or tuberous rootstock. The leaves are alternate, pinnately or ternately divided into oblong to obovate segments, the epithet lathyroides alluding to a vetch-like (Lathyrus) aspect of the foliage. The flowers are borne in terminal racemes; each is strongly zygomorphic with four petals, the upper petal prolonged backward into a conspicuous nectar spur, the colour typically yellow to purplish. The fruit is a slender dehiscent capsule (siliquiform) containing several shining seeds, often with an oil-rich elaiosome.

Corydalis, placed in subfamily Fumarioideae of an expanded Papaveraceae, is an exceptionally large and taxonomically complex genus richly developed in the Sino-Himalaya. The spurred flowers are adapted to long-tongued bees, while elaiosome-bearing seeds promote ant dispersal (myrmecochory). Given its restricted distribution and sparse records, the species merits monitoring, though no formal conservation assessment has been published.

Author: Prain · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated checklist of the flowering plants of Nepal, Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis latiflora 

by G & P Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Nepal 99 795 ergebnis
West-Nepal Baga-La-Phedi 4500m, July
Nepal 99 794 ergebnis
West-Nepal Baga-La-Phedi 4500m, July

Description

Corydalis latiflora is a high-alpine perennial herb of the central and western Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, northern India and Bhutan with some extension into south-western China, a comparatively narrow distribution reflected in around 78 occurrence records. It grows on open screes, moraines, rocky alpine slopes and gravelly flats, typically between about 4000 and 4800 m, well above the treeline. The specimen photographed at Baga-La-Phedi in west Nepal at 4500 m in July illustrates its flowering during the short summer growing season of the high alpine zone.

The plant is a low, often glaucous perennial arising from a slender rootstock or small tuber, with a tuft of finely dissected, several-times divided leaves bearing narrow ultimate segments. The flowering stems carry few-flowered racemes of zygomorphic flowers subtended by leafy or divided bracts; each flower has two small outer petals and two inner petals, the upper outer petal prolonged backwards into a conspicuous spur, the corolla broad and blue to purplish-blue as the epithet latiflora ("broad-flowered") suggests. The fruit is a slender, dehiscent capsule (siliqua-like) opening to scatter small, shining seeds often bearing an elaiosome.

Corydalis (Papaveraceae, subfamily Fumarioideae) is an exceptionally large and taxonomically intricate genus, with a great radiation of blue-flowered alpine species across the Himalaya and Hengduan mountains. C. latiflora belongs to this assemblage of high-elevation specialists. The spurred flowers are pollinated by bumblebees and other long-tongued insects, and the elaiosome-bearing seeds are frequently ant-dispersed (myrmecochory). As a narrow-range alpine endemic, it is of biogeographic interest and potentially sensitive to climatic warming of its high-mountain habitat.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis leptocarpa

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Bhutan2014 185
Bhutan Trachyangtse 2300m, May

Description

Corydalis leptocarpa is a Sino-Himalayan to East Asian fumitory recorded from China, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Japan, Nepal, Thailand and Korea, with around 163 GBIF occurrences spanning this broad temperate range. It is a plant of shaded, humid forest, woodland margins, mossy banks and damp ravines, typically at montane elevations from roughly 1500 to 3000 m. The individual photographed near Trashiyangtse (Trachyangtse, eastern Bhutan) at about 2300 m in May illustrates its association with moist broad-leaved forest in spring, when the slender stems and pale flowers appear in the dappled understorey.

The species is a slender, erect to ascending annual or short-lived perennial herb with brittle, somewhat glaucous foliage. The leaves are bi- to triternately compound, the ultimate segments ovate and lobed, borne on delicate petioles. The inflorescence is a lax raceme of pale yellow, zygomorphic flowers; each has four petals, the upper outer one prolonged backward into a slender spur, enclosing two stamen bundles and an elongate ovary. The fruit, as the epithet leptocarpa ('slender-fruited') indicates, is a narrow, linear, pendulous capsule that dehisces elastically to scatter the shining black seeds, which often bear an oily elaiosome.

Corydalis is one of the largest genera of the Papaveraceae (subfamily Fumarioideae), exceptionally diverse in the Sino-Himalaya, where hundreds of species occupy habitats from forest floor to alpine scree. C. leptocarpa belongs to the yellow-flowered woodland element of the genus. Many Corydalis species rely on ant-mediated seed dispersal of their elaiosome-bearing seeds. With its wide East Asian range and tolerance of forest-edge habitats it is not considered threatened, though it remains tied to intact montane forest cover.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis meifolia 

by G & P Jürgens

Wall.

Nepal 99 628 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kagmara-La 4950m, July

Description

Corydalis meifolia Wall. is a high-alpine herb distributed along the Himalaya and adjacent ranges, with GBIF documenting some 251 occurrences across India, Nepal, China, Bhutan and Pakistan, with outliers reaching Japan. It is a plant of the upper subalpine and alpine zones, typically growing between roughly 3500 and 5200 m on open, gravelly slopes, moraine flushes, screes and damp meadow margins where snowmelt persists. The photographed population at the Kagmara-La in West Nepal, at about 4950 m in July, exemplifies its preference for cold, well-drained substrates that thaw only briefly during the short montane summer.

The species is a glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial arising from a slender taproot. Stems are erect to ascending, often several from the base, and the foliage is finely divided: the leaves are two- to three-pinnate with narrow, almost filiform ultimate segments, recalling the foliage of Meum (hence the epithet meifolia). The inflorescence is a dense terminal raceme of zygomorphic flowers; each flower is yellow, bearing the characteristic single posterior spur of the genus, with the outer petals expanded and crested. The fruit is a slender, dehiscent capsule containing small black seeds, typically each bearing an oil-rich elaiosome.

Within the large and taxonomically complex genus Corydalis, C. meifolia belongs to a Himalayan assemblage of yellow-flowered, finely dissected alpine species and is morphologically variable across its range, with several segregate taxa described. Like many high-elevation Papaveraceae it relies on insect pollination during the brief flowering window and on seed dispersal by ants attracted to the elaiosomes. The species remains locally frequent across its broad montane distribution and is not considered threatened, though populations are confined to the narrow, climatically sensitive alpine belt.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis oligantha

by GP Jürgens

Ludlow & Stearn

Bh2008 36 P59
Bhutan Dochu-La 2850m, April

Description

Corydalis oligantha is an apparently Bhutanese endemic, the only GBIF records (about 6) deriving from Bhutan and described from there by Ludlow and Stearn. It is a plant of moist, shaded temperate habitats, growing on humus-rich banks, forest floors, mossy rock crevices and damp clearings, around 2800 to 3000 m. The specimen illustrated from Dochu-La in western Bhutan at 2850 m in April, flowering early in spring as the snow recedes, exemplifies its preference for cool, moisture-retentive woodland margins and its brief vernal growing season.

It is a slender, often glaucous herb with watery sap and a fleshy rootstock or small tuber. The leaves are alternate and finely dissected, ternately or pinnately compound into narrow segments, giving the delicate, fern-like aspect typical of the genus. The flowers, comparatively few in the lax raceme as the epithet oligantha (few-flowered) implies, are strongly zygomorphic: each has four petals, the upper one prolonged backwards into a conspicuous nectar spur, the inner pair coherent over the stamens and stigma, the colour generally yellow to purplish. The fruit is a slender, two-valved dehiscent capsule releasing several shining seeds, often bearing an elaiosome.

Corydalis is an exceptionally large and taxonomically difficult genus that radiates spectacularly across the Sino-Himalaya, and narrow endemics such as C. oligantha contribute to Bhutan's distinctive alpine and temperate flora. The spurred, bilabiate flowers reflect specialised pollination by long-tongued bees, while seed elaiosomes promote ant dispersal. With an extremely restricted range and very few documented occurrences, this species is potentially of high conservation concern and would benefit from targeted survey and assessment.

Author: Ludlow & Stearn · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Ludlow & Stearn studies of Bhutan plants, Flora of China (Papaveraceae), Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis pseudojuncea

by G & P Jürgens

Ludlow & Stearn

Nepal 99 135 ergebnis
West-Nepal South of Rara-Lake 3800m, June

Description

Corydalis pseudojuncea is a poorly collected high-Himalayan herb known from a narrow range across Nepal, northern India and adjacent south-western China (Tibet), with only 14 GBIF records reflecting both its restricted distribution and the remoteness of its habitat. It occupies open alpine and subalpine ground – stony slopes, moraine flats and seasonally moist gravels – in the inner ranges. The cited gathering from south of Rara Lake in West Nepal at 3800 m in June places it in the early-summer flowering flush of the western Nepalese alpine zone, where snowmelt briefly supports such ephemeral fumitories.

It is a slender, glabrous and somewhat glaucous perennial herb arising from a small tuber or fleshy rootstock, the rush-like ("juncea") aspect alluded to in its epithet given by the few, narrow, much-reduced leaves and the wiry erect stems. The leaves are finely dissected into linear segments. The flowers are borne in a lax terminal raceme, zygomorphic and spurred in the manner of the genus, the outer two petals one of which bears a long backward-pointing nectar spur, the inner pair connate over the stigma; the corolla is pale yellow to bluish. The fruit is a slender dehiscent capsule releasing few shining seeds.

Corydalis is an exceptionally large genus with a Sino-Himalayan diversity centre, and C. pseudojuncea, described by Ludlow and Stearn, belongs among the narrow-leaved alpine species. Its spurred flowers indicate long-tongued bee pollination. Given its rarity in collections and limited known range it warrants monitoring, though insufficient data exist for a formal threat assessment.

Author: Ludlow & Stearn · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Papaveraceae

Corydalis sikkimensis

by G & P Jürgens

(Prain) Fedde

Bh2008 379 G589
Bhutan Gogona 3200m, May

Description

Corydalis sikkimensis is an Eastern Himalayan endemic distributed across the high mountains of Sikkim and adjacent India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan and southern Xizang (China), with GBIF documenting 18 georeferenced collections from these four countries (IN, NP, BT, CN). It occupies the subalpine to lower alpine belt, typically between 3000 and 4000 m, growing in moist shaded conifer and Rhododendron forest margins, on humus-rich banks, beside snow-melt rivulets and among damp rocks. The photographed plant from Gogona in central Bhutan at about 3200 m in May illustrates its phenology, flowering with the early summer monsoon when soils are saturated and light is filtered through the forest canopy.

It is a slender, glabrous, glaucous perennial herb arising from a small fibrous-rooted or shortly tuberous rootstock. The erect to ascending stems bear thin, several-times ternately or pinnately divided leaves, the ultimate segments ovate to obovate and often shallowly lobed, the lower leaves long-petiolate. Flowers are borne in lax terminal racemes subtended by small entire or toothed bracts; each zygomorphic flower comprises four petals, the upper petal produced into a slender, somewhat curved or decurved spur, the inner petals connate at the apex and crested. The corolla is typically blue to purplish-blue. The fruit is a narrow dehiscent capsule containing small black shining seeds.

A member of the large and taxonomically intricate genus Corydalis (Papaveraceae, subfamily Fumarioideae), the species belongs to the predominantly Sino-Himalayan radiation centred on the eastern Himalaya and Hengduan Shan. Like many congeners it is pollinated by long-tongued bumblebees attracted to the spurred corolla, and its alkaloid-rich tissues are characteristic of the family. Though restricted in range, it occurs in remote, little-disturbed high-elevation habitats and is not presently regarded as threatened, but its narrow endemism makes it sensitive to climate-driven shifts in the alpine zone.

Author: (Prain) Fedde · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 7, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of Nepal, Monograph of the genus Corydalis (Lidén & Zetterlund)

Hamamelidaceae

Corylopsis himalayana

by GP Jürgens

Griff.

Bhutan2014 160
Bhutan Trashigang 1570m, May
Bhutan2014 161
Bhutan Trashigang 1570m, May

Description

Corylopsis himalayana is an eastern Himalayan winter-hazel distributed through NE India, Bhutan and adjacent SW China, GBIF recording around 181 occurrences (together with scattered cultivated records elsewhere). It is a shrub or small tree of temperate broadleaved forest, forest margins and thickets, typically on moist, well-drained slopes. The photographed plant from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan at 1,570 m (May) is characteristic of its mid-elevation habitat in the warm temperate forest zone, where it occurs among other deciduous understorey and edge species.

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree with alternate, ovate to obovate leaves that are obliquely cordate at the base, with a serrate margin, prominent straight lateral veins and stellate or simple hairs beneath, the foliage often expanding after or with the flowers. The flowers are borne in pendent, catkin-like racemes; each is small, with five yellow, spathulate petals, five stamens and a half-inferior ovary, and the inflorescences are subtended by conspicuous bracts. The fruit is a woody, two-beaked capsule splitting to release shining black seeds.

Corylopsis belongs to the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae, a lineage of considerable phylogenetic interest as an early-diverging element of the eudicots, and the genus is prized horticulturally for its early-spring display of fragrant yellow racemes. C. himalayana represents the western, Himalayan outpost of a genus otherwise centred on East Asia, a distribution pattern echoing the well-known Sino-Himalayan to Japanese floristic links. Restricted to montane forest, it benefits from the conservation of intact temperate woodland across its limited range.

Author: Griff. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 9, Endress: Hamamelidaceae (in Families and Genera of Vascular Plants)