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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.

Ranunculaceae

Delphinium kamaonense

by GP Jürgens

Huth

Nepal 95 120 P208 ergebnis
Nepal south of Rupien La 3450m October

Description

Delphinium kamaonense is a Himalayan and Sino-Himalayan larkspur recorded by GBIF (839 occurrences) from China, Nepal, India and Bhutan. It is a plant of open subalpine and alpine habitats, growing on grassy slopes, among low scrub, on stony pastures and along rocky margins, generally between about 3000 and 4500 m. The individual photographed south of the Rupien La in Nepal at 3450 m in October exemplifies its late, post-monsoon flowering, when many high-altitude perennials complete their reproductive cycle before the onset of winter.

The species is a perennial herb arising from a fibrous or somewhat woody rootstock, with erect, slender stems that are often finely pubescent above. The leaves are alternate, long-petiolate below, with a palmately divided to deeply lobed blade whose segments are further cut into narrow ultimate lobes. The flowers are borne in a lax raceme or panicle and are strongly zygomorphic; the five petaloid sepals are deep blue to violet, the uppermost prolonged backwards into a conspicuous slender spur that encloses the nectariferous spurs of the two upper petals. The dark inner petals form a contrasting central eye. The fruit consists of several erect, many-seeded follicles.

Delphinium is a large northern-temperate genus well represented in the Himalaya, and D. kamaonense belongs to the assemblage of blue-flowered alpine larkspurs centred on the western and central ranges. The spurred flowers are adapted for pollination by long-tongued bumblebees capable of reaching the concealed nectar. Like most members of the genus the plant contains toxic diterpenoid alkaloids that deter grazing. The species is widespread within its high-elevation niche and is not currently considered to be at conservation risk.

Author: Huth · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Monograph of the Genus Delphinium (Munz)

Ranunculaceae

Delphinium ludlowii

by GP Jürgens

Munz

Sikkim2003 341 G480
Sikkim Choka 3200m August
Sikkim2003 342 P481
Sikkim Choka 3200m August

Description

Delphinium ludlowii Munz is a narrowly distributed alpine larkspur of the eastern Himalaya, known only from Bhutan and adjacent Nepal and Sikkim, where the very small number of records reflects both its restricted range and its remote, high-elevation habitat. It grows on open alpine and subalpine slopes, among rocks, in moist meadows and along the margins of scrub at the upper limits of vegetation. The photographed plant from Choka in Sikkim at 3200 m, flowering in August at the height of the monsoon growing season, illustrates its association with cool, humid, well-watered high-mountain sites where the snowmelt and summer rains sustain a brief but vigorous flowering period.

The plant is an erect perennial herb arising from a fibrous or somewhat tuberous rootstock, bearing palmately divided leaves whose segments are further cut into narrow lobes. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme of characteristically spurred, zygomorphic flowers; the showy, petaloid sepals are blue to violet-blue, the uppermost prolonged backward into a conspicuous nectar spur, within which the smaller true petals are concealed. The fruit consists of several erect, many-seeded follicles typical of the genus, splitting along the inner suture to release the angular seeds.

Within the taxonomically intricate genus Delphinium, D. ludlowii belongs to the Sino-Himalayan alpine larkspurs and commemorates the collector Frank Ludlow, whose Bhutan expeditions yielded much of the type material. Like related montane species it is bumblebee-pollinated, the long spur matching its visitors, and all parts are toxic owing to diterpene alkaloids. Its very limited known range and few documented occurrences make it of conservation interest, dependent on intact alpine habitats in the eastern Himalaya.

Author: Munz · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China (Ranunculaceae), Ludlow & Sherriff Himalayan collections, A Monograph of the Genus Delphinium (Munz)

Ranunculaceae

Delphinium nepalense

by GP Jürgens

Kitam. & Tamura

Nepal 95 413 P722 ergebnis
Nepal Jaisuli Kund 4450m October
Nepal 95 414 P724 ergebnis
Nepal Jaisuli Kund 4450m October

Description

Delphinium nepalense is a high-alpine larkspur of the Central and Western Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan; GBIF holds about 51 occurrences, reflecting a limited but genuine montane distribution. It is a plant of the upper alpine zone, growing on open grassy slopes, stony meadows, screes and the margins of glacial tarns, as documented at Jaisuli Kund in Nepal at 4450 m. At such elevations it experiences a brief, cool growing season and flowers comparatively late, persisting into October as shown in the field record, when many co-occurring alpines have already set seed.

It is a perennial herb arising from a fibrous to somewhat tuberous rootstock, with erect or ascending stems. The leaves are palmately divided into narrow lobes or segments, the lower ones long-petiolate and the upper progressively reduced and sessile. The inflorescence is a few-flowered raceme of strongly zygomorphic flowers; the five petaloid sepals are blue to violet-purple, the uppermost prolonged backward into a prominent spur that encloses the nectar-bearing spurs of the two upper petals, while the smaller petals form a contrasting honey-guide at the throat. The fruit is a cluster of erect follicles splitting along the ventral suture to release flattened, scaly or winged seeds.

The species was described by Kitamura & Tamura, authorities on the Himalayan Ranunculaceae. Within Delphinium it belongs to the perennial Himalayan element, allied to species such as D. brunonianum and D. kamaonense. As in much of the genus, the flowers are pollinated chiefly by bumblebees adapted to probing the long spur, and the foliage contains diterpenoid alkaloids that render the plant toxic and unpalatable to grazing livestock. Although not formally assessed for conservation, its restricted high-altitude range makes it sensitive to grazing intensity and to the upslope compression of alpine habitat under a warming climate.

Author: Kitam. & Tamura · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Munz's monograph of the genus Delphinium

Ranunculaceae

Delphinium viscosum

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Bhutan2012 283
Bhutan Shele-La, 3900m September
Sikkim2003 283 P389
Sikkim Saniti-Lake 4300m August

Description

Delphinium viscosum is an alpine perennial of the Himalaya, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, with 105 occurrences in GBIF reflecting its restricted high-altitude range. It inhabits open alpine slopes, stony meadows, scree margins and rocky pastures, generally between 3500 and 4500 m, where it flowers in late summer and early autumn. The collections figured, from Bhutan's Shele-La at 3900 m in September and Sikkim's Saniti-Lake at 4300 m in August, illustrate its occupancy of cold, exposed alpine terrain at the upper limit of herbaceous vegetation, on well-drained gravelly soils among low alpine swards.

The plant arises from a thickened, somewhat woody rootstock, producing erect stems usually 15-40 cm tall that are conspicuously glandular-viscid and hairy, the sticky pubescence giving the species its epithet. The leaves are alternate, orbicular to reniform in outline and palmately divided into several broad, toothed or further-lobed segments. The inflorescence is a few-flowered terminal raceme of showy zygomorphic flowers; the five petaloid sepals are deep blue to violet, the uppermost prolonged backward into a prominent spur enclosing the nectariferous true petals. The fruit is a cluster of usually three erect, glandular follicles releasing winged or scaly seeds.

Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) is a large genus of the northern temperate zone with a notable Sino-Himalayan radiation of alpine species; D. viscosum belongs to the glandular, spur-flowered montane group adapted to short alpine seasons. Like all larkspurs it contains toxic diterpenoid alkaloids. Its spurred flowers favour pollination by long-tongued bumblebees. With a limited high-alpine distribution, it is potentially sensitive to grazing and climatic change, though its remote habitats afford some natural protection.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, A Taxonomic Revision of Himalayan Delphinium (Ranunculaceae)

Ranunculaceae

Delphinium wardii

by GP Jürgens

C.Marquand & Airy Shaw

Bhutan2012 270
Bhutan Shele-La, 4000m September
Bhutan2012 271
Bhutan Shele-La, 4000m September

Description

Delphinium wardii C.Marquand & Airy Shaw is a high-alpine larkspur of very limited distribution; GBIF holds only about 10 occurrences, from Bhutan, neighbouring China (southern Tibet) and northeastern India. It is a plant of open alpine habitats, growing on stony slopes, rocky meadows, scree and grassy turf above the treeline, generally between about 3800 and 4500 m. The individual photographed at Shele-La in Bhutan at 4000 m in September, flowering in the late-season alpine zone, exemplifies its occupation of cold, well-drained, exposed high-altitude sites near the upper limit of vascular plant growth in the eastern Himalaya.

It is a perennial herb arising from a fibrous to somewhat woody rootstock, with erect stems of modest height, often pubescent in the upper parts. The leaves are palmately divided into narrow lobes or segments, the basal leaves long-petiolate and the cauline ones smaller and shorter-stalked. The flowers are borne in a few-flowered terminal raceme; each is zygomorphic with five petaloid sepals, the uppermost prolonged backward into a conspicuous spur, the whole flower deep blue to violet-blue. Within the sepals sit the smaller petals, the upper pair extended into nectar-bearing spurs enclosed in the sepaline spur. The fruit is a cluster of several erect follicles releasing angular, scaly seeds.

The genus Delphinium is well represented in the Sino-Himalayan alpine flora, where its spurred, bee-pollinated flowers are adapted to long-tongued bumblebees that probe the nectar spurs. Like its congeners the plant contains diterpenoid alkaloids and is poisonous to livestock. With an extremely small known range, very few documented collections and confinement to a narrow, climatically vulnerable high-alpine band, Delphinium wardii is a regionally restricted endemic of the eastern Himalaya whose limited occurrence record warrants particular attention to its conservation.

Author: C.Marquand & Airy Shaw · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Wang & Warnock revision of Delphinium

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium amoenum

by G & P Jürgens

Wall. ex Lindl.

Nepal 2009 114 ergebnis
Nepal Helambu Indrawati-Valley 1500, May

Description

Dendrobium amoenum Wall. ex Lindl. is an epiphytic orchid distributed across the central and eastern Himalaya and adjacent ranges, with records (GBIF: c. 147 occurrences) from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, extending into the Malesian region (Indonesia). It is a characteristic element of humid temperate and subtropical broad-leaved forests, growing on mossy trunks and branches at roughly 1,000–2,000 m. The photographed material from Nepal's Helambu region in the Indrawati Valley, at about 1,500 m and flowering in May, falls squarely within its preferred mid-montane belt, where seasonal monsoon humidity and cloud-forest conditions favour epiphytic growth.

The species forms slender, pendulous, terete stems up to 30–60 cm long, often becoming leafless before flowering and bearing thin internodes. The leaves are distichous, lanceolate and deciduous, leaving conspicuous nodal sheaths. Flowers are borne singly or in small clusters from the nodes of older canes, are fragrant, and measure roughly 3–4 cm across. The sepals and petals are white, frequently tinged or tipped with pale rose-purple, while the rounded, pubescent lip is white with a yellow to greenish central disc and a fine purple apical margin. The column is short, bearing four pollinia within an operculate anther cap.

Dendrobium amoenum belongs to the large, taxonomically complex genus Dendrobium (section Dendrobium), members of which display the characteristic deciduous habit and nodal flowering. Like many Himalayan epiphytic orchids it is sensitive to deforestation and to collection pressure, and the genus is listed under CITES Appendix II. The input family "Orchideaceae" is an orthographic variant of the accepted Orchidaceae.

Author: Wall. ex Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Flora of Nepal, GBIF, Pearce & Cribb: The Orchids of Bhutan (2002)

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium amplum

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Bhutan2012 1365
Bhutan Sandrup 1400m, October
Bhutan2012 1366
Bhutan Sandrup 1400m, October

Description

Dendrobium amplum (often treated under the segregate genus Epigeneium as E. amplum) is an epiphytic orchid distributed across the eastern Himalaya and adjacent Southeast Asia. GBIF documents 230 occurrences from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand, with herbarium and cultivated records also in Europe and North America. It inhabits mossy trunks and large branches in humid subtropical broadleaved forest, generally between roughly 1000 and 2000 m. The plant shown was recorded at Sandrup in Bhutan at 1400 m in October, a warm-temperate forest belt where seasonal monsoon moisture sustains a rich epiphytic flora.

The species has a creeping rhizome from which arise well-spaced, ovoid to fusiform pseudobulbs, each conspicuously four-angled and topped by two (rarely three) ovate-elliptic, coriaceous leaves. The inflorescence emerges from the apex of the pseudobulb and carries one to a few comparatively large, showy flowers. The spreading sepals and petals are pale green to yellowish, variously suffused or veined with brown and purple, while the three-lobed labellum bears a recurved, acute or apiculate midlobe and is marked with reddish-purple lines over a callused disc. The mentum is short and the column foot prominent.

Described by John Lindley, the species belongs to a group of broad-bulbed Dendrobium species frequently placed in Epigeneium, a genus whose limits remain debated; POWO accepts the Dendrobium placement. The autumn-flowering habit and large flowers make it attractive to collectors. While ranging widely and not formally listed as threatened, it depends on intact mature forest and is sensitive to habitat loss and over-collection.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Orchids of Bhutan, Dendrobium and its Relatives (Lavarack et al.)

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium aphyllum

by G & P Jürgens

C.E.C. Fisch.

Sikkim2011 17
Sikkim Lachen 2460m, June
Bhutan2014 703
Bhutan Wangdi Phodrang 2280m, May
BhutanPG2011 56 ergebnis
Bhutan Jakar, 20m June
Bhutan2014 702
Bhutan Jakar, 2600m June
Nepal 1994 8 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Tumlingtar 340m April

Description

Dendrobium aphyllum is a widespread epiphytic orchid of tropical and subtropical Asia, ranging from India and Nepal through southern China and across mainland Southeast Asia, with GBIF documenting occurrences from India, China, Thailand, Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos among many territories. It grows as an epiphyte, and sometimes a lithophyte, on tree trunks and rocks in warm, humid lowland and lower montane forest, enduring a distinct dry season during which the canes shed their leaves. It occupies low to middle elevations; the records span Tumlingtar in eastern Nepal at about 340 m to Sikkim's Lachen and Bhutanese sites up to roughly 2600 m, with the photographed material flowering from April through June across this broad altitudinal range.

The plant produces long, slender, pendulous cane-like stems that branch and trail from the host, leafy when young and largely leaf-shedding before flowering. The leaves are thin, lanceolate and deciduous. The flowers emerge in twos and threes from the nodes of the bare, hanging canes, fragrant and delicately coloured, with pale rose-pink to lilac sepals and petals. The labellum is broadly funnel-shaped to subobicular, cream to pale yellow and finely downy within, often marked with darker veining and rolled around the column to form a trumpet, the lower margin sometimes faintly fringed. The fruit is a pendent capsule.

D. aphyllum is placed in Dendrobium section Dendrobium and is characterised by its leafless flowering canes, as reflected in the epithet; it has accumulated synonymy and is sometimes confused with related pendent species such as D. primulinum and D. anosmum. Long cultivated as an ornamental and used in some traditional medicines, it remains common over much of its vast range, though localised populations are depleted by wild collection and lowland forest clearance.

Author: C.E.C. Fisch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb), Dendrobium and its Allies (Lavarack et al.)

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium densiflorum

by GP Jürgens

Lindl. ex. Wall.

Nepal 97 359 P703
Nepal Arun-Valley 1650m
Nepal 97 358 P701
Nepal Arun-Valley 1650m

Description

Dendrobium densiflorum is a robust epiphytic orchid of the subtropical and warm-temperate forests of the eastern Himalaya and Indochina, recorded natively from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, with 247 GBIF occurrences (several extralimital records reflecting cultivation). It grows as an epiphyte, and occasionally a lithophyte, on mossy trees and shaded rock faces in humid broadleaved forest, generally between about 1000 and 1800 m. The illustrated plant comes from the Arun Valley of eastern Nepal at around 1650 m, a deep monsoon-fed gorge where rich epiphyte communities clothe the evergreen forest.

The species forms stout, clustered, club-shaped to fusiform pseudobulbous canes that are four-angled and longitudinally furrowed, bearing several leathery, oblong-elliptic leaves toward the apex. The inflorescence is its glory: a dense, pendulous, cylindrical raceme arising near the cane apex and carrying many closely set flowers. Each flower has bright golden-yellow, spreading sepals and broader petals, and a conspicuous, broadly orbicular, downy lip of deep egg-yolk orange-yellow, fringed at the margin. The fruit is a ribbed capsule.

The species belongs to Dendrobium section Densiflora, distinguished by these massed, pendent, golden 'pineapple' inflorescences. Spectacular in flower, it has long been prized in horticulture, and over-collection from the wild together with forest clearance has reduced many accessible populations; as with all Dendrobium it is regulated under CITES Appendix II. Its biogeography typifies the Sino-Himalayan epiphytic orchid flora that reaches its western limit in the wet middle-hill forests of Nepal.

Author: Lindl. ex. Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Orchids of Nepal, Dendrobium and its Allies (Lavarack, Harris & Stocker)

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium eriiflorum

by GP Jürgens

Griff.

Nepal 95 303 P547 ergebnis
Nepal Bharang 1850m October

Description

Dendrobium eriiflorum is an epiphytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya and Indo-Burmese region, distributed through Nepal, northern India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar into Thailand, peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia; GBIF records about 112 occurrences across this range. It is a plant of the subtropical to lower temperate broadleaved forest, growing as an epiphyte on tree trunks and mossy branches in humid, shaded montane woodland, as documented at Bharang in Nepal at 1850 m. In this elevational band it benefits from high atmospheric moisture and a pronounced monsoon, and is recorded in flower in October toward the close of the wet season.

It is a small, tufted epiphyte with clustered, slender, erect to pendent stems (pseudobulb-like canes) sheathed by the membranous bases of the leaves. The leaves are thin, narrowly lanceolate, distichous and deciduous, leaving the older canes leafless. The inflorescences are short, few-flowered racemes arising laterally near the stem apex; the flowers are small, pale greenish-white to cream and densely covered externally with fine hairs, the hairy perianth recalling the genus Eria and giving rise to the epithet "eriiflorum". The lip is three-lobed with a recurved apex, and the column bears a short foot forming a mentum, with the pollinia waxy in the manner typical of Dendrobium.

The species was described by William Griffith, an early explorer of the Himalayan and Burmese flora. Within the large, taxonomically complex genus Dendrobium it falls among the small-flowered Himalayan species; the distinctive pubescent flowers are an unusual diagnostic feature among its relatives. Pollination in such Dendrobium is generally by small bees attracted to the lip. As an epiphyte dependent on intact, humid forest canopy, it is sensitive to deforestation and to the horticultural collection that affects many Himalayan orchids; like all Dendrobium it is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.

Author: Griff. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Orchids of Nepal, Seidenfaden's monographic studies of Dendrobium