Tag:

Montane (1500-2500 m)

Polygalaceae

Polygala sibirica

by GP Jürgens

L.

Bh2008 521 G796
Bhutan Punakha 2400m, May

Description

Polygala sibirica L. is a small perennial milkwort with one of the widest distributions in its genus, ranging across temperate Eurasia from eastern Europe through Central and northern Asia to the Himalaya, China, Japan and southward into Southeast Asia and Australasia. GBIF records confirm its presence in Russia, China, Mongolia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Korea, Japan and many other countries, with several thousand occurrences. It grows on dry grassy slopes, open stony banks and forest margins from the lowlands to about 3,000 m. The plant photographed at Punakha in Bhutan at 2,400 m, flowering in May, exemplifies its occurrence on sunny montane slopes.

The species is a tufted perennial herb arising from a woody rootstock, with several ascending to spreading, often hairy stems 10–30 cm long. The leaves are alternate, sessile or nearly so, lanceolate to elliptic, the lower ones smaller. The flowers are borne in lax terminal racemes; the two large petaloid lateral sepals (wings) are greenish-veined, and the small blue to purplish corolla bears a conspicuous fringed keel-petal crest. The fruit is a flattened, narrowly winged, obcordate capsule containing two hairy seeds with a small aril.

Polygala sibirica is closely allied to the medicinally important P. tenuifolia, and its roots are similarly used in traditional Chinese medicine (yuan zhi) as a source of saponins. Its enormous range and ecological tolerance make it one of the most successful milkworts, and it is of least conservation concern.

Author: L. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 11, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Bennett: Polygalaceae in Hooker's Flora of British India

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum brevistylum

by G & P Jürgens

Baker

Sikkim 2006 315 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Chaana 1800m, May

Description

Polygonatum brevistylum is a rhizomatous perennial of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent ranges. GBIF documents it (some 27 occurrences) from Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar, in moist temperate forest, forest margins, shrubberies and shaded banks. It grows in cool, humus-rich soils within the broadleaved and mixed conifer zone, generally between about 1,500 and 3,000 m. The photographed plant is from Chaana in West Bengal (Darjeeling–Sikkim Himalaya) at around 1,800 m, flowering in May, a representative low-montane station for the species as it sends up shoots in spring.

The plant has a stout, knotty, horizontally creeping rhizome from which arises an erect or arching stem. The leaves are alternate, ovate to elliptic and acuminate, glabrous, sessile or shortly petiolate. The flowers are pendent and borne in few-flowered axillary clusters; the perianth is tubular-campanulate, white to greenish-white, with six short lobes, and, as the epithet brevistylum signals, a notably short style. The fruit is a globose berry, ripening blue-black to purplish and containing several seeds.

Polygonatum (Solomon's-seal), now placed in Asparagaceae (formerly Convallariaceae or Liliaceae sensu lato), is taxonomically intricate in the Himalaya, where several closely allied rhizomatous species occur. The short style and the clustered axillary flowers are useful diagnostic characters separating P. brevistylum from sympatric congeners. Himalayan Polygonatum rhizomes are widely gathered for food and traditional medicine, so localised harvesting pressure may affect accessible populations.

Author: Baker · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 24, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, GBIF, Jeffrey: The Genus Polygonatum (Liliaceae) in Eastern Asia

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum cirrhifolium

by GP Jürgens

(Wall.) Royle

Bh2008 611 P920
Bhutan, Punakha 2400m, May

Description

Polygonatum cirrhifolium is a rhizomatous perennial herb widely distributed across the Himalaya and the mountains of central and western China, recorded from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Vietnam, with around 2251 georeferenced records (records from Canada, Norway and Britain reflect cultivation). It occurs in temperate forest, forest margins, shrubberies and grassy alpine slopes, on moist humus-rich soils typically between about 2000 and 4000 m. The photographed plant from Punakha in Bhutan at 2400 m, flowering in May, sits near the lower edge of its broad altitudinal span.

It has a stout, knotted, horizontal rhizome from which arises an erect to arching stem. The narrow, linear-lanceolate leaves are borne in whorls of three or more, and the epithet cirrhifolium refers to their slender apices, which are characteristically prolonged and curled into tendril-like tips. The pendent flowers hang one to four together in the leaf axils; each perianth is tubular, pale rose-purple to whitish, the six tepals fused into a cylinder with short lobes and enclosing six stamens. The fruit is a globose berry that ripens from red to purplish-black.

Polygonatum, in Asparagaceae subfamily Nolinoideae, is here represented by a whorled-leaved species readily told from P. oppositifolium by its tendrilled leaf tips. The rhizome, known in Chinese and Himalayan medicine, is gathered as a tonic drug, and the species is among the sources of the herbal material huangjing. The pendent nectar-bearing flowers are bumblebee-pollinated and the berries bird-dispersed. Though widespread and not threatened overall, sustained medicinal harvesting locally depletes wild populations.

Author: (Wall.) Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Jeffrey monograph of Polygonatum

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum geminiflorum

by G & P Jürgens

Decne.

Garh 07 101 ergebnis
India Garhwal Trijugin 2300m, June

Description

Polygonatum geminiflorum is a western Himalayan Solomon's seal distributed from Afghanistan and Pakistan through Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to western Nepal, with disjunct records from the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia). GBIF records 123 occurrences across this range. The species inhabits moist, shaded understorey habitats in temperate oak-conifer and mixed broadleaved forests at elevations of 1,800–3,200 m. It favours deep, humus-rich forest soils and is frequently found on north-facing slopes, along streams, and at the base of boulders under canopies of Quercus semecarpifolia, Cedrus deodara, and Abies pindrow.
Polygonatum geminiflorum is an erect, herbaceous perennial arising from a stout, horizontal, moniliform rhizome bearing conspicuous circular stem scars (Solomon's seals). Stems are simple, arching, 30–60 cm tall, glabrous, and angular in cross-section. Leaves are alternate, sessile, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 5–10 cm long, glaucous beneath, with parallel venation and slightly clasping bases. Flowers are typically borne in pairs (geminate) from leaf axils — the diagnostic character reflected in the epithet — occasionally solitary or in threes. Each flower is tubular-campanulate, 12–18 mm long, white to cream with green tips, pendulous on slender pedicels 1–2 cm long. The six tepals are fused for most of their length. The fruit is a globose berry, 8–10 mm in diameter, ripening from green to dark blue-black.
The photographed specimen from Trijugin in Garhwal at 2,300 m in June represents a characteristic occurrence in the west-central Himalayan forests during peak flowering season. Polygonatum geminiflorum is distinguished from the related P. verticillatum by its alternate (not whorled) leaves and consistently paired flowers. The Caucasian disjunction is biogeographically significant, representing a relictual Tertiary connection between the western Himalayan and Irano-Turanian floras. The rhizomes are used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine as a tonic and are locally harvested, which in some areas may impact wild populations.

Author: Decne. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan (Liliaceae), Flora of British India Vol. 6, Tamura: Liliaceae in Flora of China Vol. 24

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum oppositifolium

by GP Jürgens

(Wall.) Royle

Nepal 97 328 P653
Nepal Arun-Valley 2000m May

Description

Polygonatum oppositifolium is a rhizomatous perennial herb of the Himalaya and adjacent mountains, ranging through India, Nepal, China, Bhutan and Myanmar, with around 184 georeferenced records concentrated along the southern Himalayan flank (several distant country codes reflect cultivation or data artefacts rather than wild populations). It grows in moist, shaded broad-leaved and mixed forest, on banks and among rocks in leaf-litter-rich soils at middle elevations. The photographed plant from the Arun Valley of eastern Nepal at about 2000 m, flowering in May, typifies its warm-temperate forest habitat.

The plant has a creeping, knotted, fleshy rhizome from which arises an arching to suberect stem. As the epithet indicates, the lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves are predominantly opposite (occasionally whorled), sessile to shortly petiolate, acuminate and prominently veined. The flowers hang in short axillary cymes; each perianth is tubular and greenish-white, the six tepals fused into a cylindrical tube with short recurved lobes, enclosing six included stamens with filaments adnate to the tube. The fruit is a small globose berry, ripening dark blue to blackish and containing few seeds.

Polygonatum (Solomon's seal), placed in Asparagaceae subfamily Nolinoideae, is distinguished from related genera by its rhizome scars and tubular flowers. P. oppositifolium is notable within the Himalayan members for its opposite leaf arrangement. The pendent flowers are bumblebee-pollinated and the berries bird-dispersed. The rhizomes are gathered locally in traditional medicine; while not currently regarded as threatened, such harvesting and forest degradation warrant monitoring of wild stands.

Author: (Wall.) Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Jeffrey monograph of Polygonatum

Asparagaceae

Polygonatum punctatum

by GP Jürgens

Royle ex Kunth

Bh2008 333 P513
Bhutan Phobjika 2700m, April
Nepal 1994 59 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Bhalukhob 
1900m April

Description

Polygonatum punctatum is a Sino-Himalayan Solomon's seal distributed through China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, with over 450 georeferenced occurrences and additional records from cultivation. It is a plant of cool, shaded temperate forest, mossy banks, rock ledges and humus-rich slopes, where it often grows as a lithophyte or epiphyte. The populations documented at Phobjikha in Bhutan at about 2700 m and at Bhalukhob in eastern Nepal at about 1900 m, both in April, reflect its montane forest habitat, emerging and flowering in spring.

The species grows from a creeping, knotted rhizome that produces an arching to pendent leafy stem. The leaves are alternate, sometimes appearing sub-opposite, ovate to lanceolate and acuminate, often somewhat leathery. Slender axillary inflorescences bear one to several tubular flowers; the perianth is fused into a narrow cylindrical tube, greenish-white and frequently marked with purple dots or spots (the punctate patterning evoked by the epithet), with six short lobes and included stamens. The fruit is a small globose berry, dark purple to blackish when ripe, containing a few seeds.

Within Asparagaceae (formerly Convallariaceae or Liliaceae sensu lato), Polygonatum is a Northern Hemisphere genus whose East Asian and Himalayan species are taxonomically intricate, separated by leaf arrangement, flower number, perianth markings and rhizome form. The frequently epiphytic or saxicolous habit of P. punctatum is unusual within the largely terrestrial genus. Widespread and locally common, it is not regarded as threatened, though several Himalayan congeners are harvested for the medicinal rhizome.

Author: Royle ex Kunth · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China, Jeffrey's revision of Polygonatum

Polygonaceae

Polygonum molle

by G & P Jürgens

D.Don

Sikkim 2006 463 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Ruigi-Chu 2100m, May

Description

Polygonum molle D.Don is a robust perennial knotweed of the Himalaya and adjacent uplands. Under current circumscription the name is treated as a synonym, the accepted genus being Koenigia, into which many former Asian Polygonum and Aconogonon species have been transferred following molecular phylogenetic studies. The taxon occurs from Pakistan and Nepal eastward through Sikkim and Bhutan into southwest China, with the broad GBIF country list reflecting the wide aggregate concept of the genus and numerous cultivated or naturalised records across Europe and North America. It was recorded in West Bengal at Ruigi-Chu at 2,100 m in May, growing in moist temperate forest clearings, stream banks, and shrubby slopes between about 1,500 and 3,000 m.

The plant forms stout, erect, much-branched stems up to 1–2 m tall arising from a woody rootstock, the nodes sheathed by membranous, often brownish ochreae. The leaves are large, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with a softly pubescent (hence "molle") and somewhat velvety lower surface. Numerous small whitish to greenish flowers are borne in much-branched, paniculate inflorescences of slender racemes; each flower has a five-parted perianth that persists around the trigonous, glossy achene at maturity.

The transfer to Koenigia reflects a substantial reorganisation of tribe Persicarieae, in which the traditional broad Polygonum proved polyphyletic. Plants of this group are pioneer colonisers of disturbed temperate habitats and contribute to slope stabilisation. Robust and widespread, the species is of no conservation concern, though its taxonomy at species rank remains in flux pending fuller sampling.

Author: D.Don · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 5, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Schuster et al.: Phylogeny of Polygoneae (Taxon, 2011)

Polygonaceae

Polygonum runcinatum

by G & P Jürgens

Buch.-Ham.

Sikkim 2006 458 ergebnis
India Sikkim, Ringi-Chu 2100m May

Description

Polygonum runcinatum is a widely distributed knotweed found across the Himalaya and extending through much of eastern and southeastern Asia to Malesia. Its range encompasses Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, with scattered records elsewhere. GBIF documents over 1,660 occurrences, reflecting its abundance and broad ecological amplitude. The species colonises moist, open to semi-shaded habitats including forest margins, stream banks, roadsides, damp meadows, and disturbed ground at elevations from 500 to 3,500 m. The photograph from Ringi-Chu in Sikkim at 2,100 m, taken in May, shows the species at a mid-elevation site in the eastern Himalaya.
The plant is a prostrate to ascending perennial herb, 20–60 cm long, often forming extensive mats. Stems are slender, branched, rooting at lower nodes, reddish-brown, glabrous to sparsely pubescent. Leaves are distinctive: ovate to lanceolate, 3–8 cm long, with a hastate to runcinate base bearing prominent, backward-pointing basal lobes — the feature indicated by the epithet runcinatum. The upper leaf surface frequently bears a dark, V-shaped or chevron-like blotch, a useful field character. Ocreae are tubular, membranous, ciliate. Flowers are borne in dense, globose, terminal capitate heads, 8–12 mm in diameter, on slender peduncles. Individual flowers are small, with a five-lobed perianth, pink to deep rose, occasionally white. Stamens usually eight. The achene is trigonous, dark brown, enclosed within the persistent perianth.
Polygonum runcinatum has been transferred by some authors to Persicaria as P. runcinata (Buch.-Ham.) H.Gross, reflecting the broad restructuring of Polygonum sensu lato based on molecular phylogenetic evidence. The species is ecologically versatile and often weedy, colonising disturbed habitats rapidly. It plays a role in soil stabilisation on moist slopes and provides floral resources for small pollinators. It is not threatened and is considered common to locally abundant throughout its extensive range.

Author: Buch.-Ham. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Li et al.: Polygonaceae in Flora of China Vol. 5, Grierson & Long: Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1

Potamogetonaceae

Potamogeton distinctus

by GP Jürgens

A.Benn.

Bhutan2015 560
Bhutan Mo-Chu 1500m, October

Description

Potamogeton distinctus is an aquatic herb widespread across temperate and subtropical Asia, recorded from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and the Russian Far East through the Himalaya (India, Nepal, Bhutan) into Southeast Asia and beyond. It is a plant of still and slow-moving fresh water — ponds, ditches, paddy fields, oxbows and the margins of slow rivers — from the lowlands to the lower montane belt. The individual photographed along the Mo Chu in Bhutan at 1,500 m in October illustrates its occurrence in a sluggish river backwater of the inner valleys, where it persists into autumn. It is well known as a weed of rice cultivation across its eastern range.

It is a perennial rooting in mud and spreading by slender, whitish, often tuber-bearing rhizomes. The plant is heterophyllous: submerged leaves are translucent, narrow and sessile or short-petioled, while the floating leaves are coriaceous, elliptic to oblong, long-petioled and with rounded to subcordate bases. Membranous stipules (ochreae) sheath the stem at the nodes. The inflorescence is a dense, cylindrical, emergent spike raised above the water on a stout peduncle; the small flowers each bear four clawed tepal-like segments and four stamens. The fruit is a small, obliquely obovoid drupelet with a short beak and a dorsal keel.

Potamogeton (Potamogetonaceae) is a cosmopolitan genus prone to hybridisation and to plastic, environmentally induced variation, which complicates identification; floating-leaved species such as P. distinctus are best separated on fruit, stipule and tuber characters. The species is widespread, often abundant, and of no conservation concern, though as a paddy weed it is locally controlled.

Author: A.Benn. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 23, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, GBIF, Wiegleb & Kaplan: Account of Potamogeton (1998)

Rosaceae

Potentilla lineata

by GP Jürgens

Trevir.

Bh09 289 P475
Bhutan Tongsa, 2300m June
Garw 2005 284 ergebnis
India Garhwal Kunol 2650m, September

Description

Potentilla lineata is a widespread Asian cinquefoil ranging across the Himalaya and into China, Myanmar and Vietnam, well represented in GBIF with around 519 records from China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Pakistan and beyond. In GBIF the queried name is treated as a synonym, with Potentilla lineata itself given as the accepted name. It occupies open grassy slopes, forest clearings, banks, pastures and disturbed roadsides through the temperate and subalpine belts, roughly 1500 to 3500 m. The collections cited from Tongsa in Bhutan at 2300 m in June and from Kunol in the Garhwal Himalaya at 2650 m in September show its long flowering season across the monsoon.

It is a perennial herb with a woody rootstock producing erect to ascending, often silky-hairy stems. The leaves are pinnate or digitately compound with toothed, oblong to obovate leaflets that are typically green and appressed-hairy above and densely silvery- or white-tomentose beneath, the strongly impressed venation giving rise to the epithet lineata. The flowers are borne in lax terminal cymes; each has five yellow petals alternating with an epicalyx and five sepals, numerous stamens and many carpels seated on a hairy receptacle. The fruit is an aggregate of small dry achenes.

Potentilla is a large and taxonomically complex genus in which hybridisation and polyploidy blur species boundaries, and P. lineata has accordingly accumulated several synonyms. The silvery indumentum reduces water loss and reflects intense montane radiation. With its broad ecological tolerance and ready colonisation of disturbed ground, the species is common and of no conservation concern, functioning as a characteristic component of Himalayan grazing land and successional grassland.

Author: Trevir. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China (Rosaceae), Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Soják taxonomic studies of Potentilla