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Nepal

Flowers of Nepal — 1313 wild plant species documented from the Nepalese Himalaya, from subtropical foothills to high alpine meadows above 4,000 m. Nepal’s dramatic elevation gradient makes it one of the richest botanical regions on Earth, home to rhododendrons, primulas, gentians and the famed blue poppies (Meconopsis). Every entry gives a botanical description, native distribution, habitat and flowering season, alongside the original field photograph and the location where it was taken.

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)

Papaveraceae

Corydalis vaginans

by G & P Jürgens

Royle

Garw 2005 427 ergebnis
India Garhwal Didina 2470m, September

Description

Corydalis vaginans is a Sino-Himalayan herb of the western and central Himalaya, with georeferenced collections concentrated in India, Pakistan and Nepal; GBIF records some 164 occurrences. It is a plant of cool, humid temperate to subalpine zones, favouring shaded forest margins, moist rocky banks, stream sides and clearings within Quercus and Abies forest. The image, taken near Didina in Garhwal (India) at about 2470 m in September, illustrates its typical late-season flowering in this moist mid-montane belt, where it grows among ferns and tall herbs on humus-rich, well-drained slopes.

The plant is a slender, glaucous, glabrous annual or short-lived perennial arising from a slender taproot. Stems are erect to ascending, somewhat fleshy and ribbed, branched above. The leaves are alternate, the lower long-petiolate and conspicuously sheathing at the base (the epithet vaginans referring to these dilated sheaths), the blades two- to three-pinnately divided into ovate to cuneate, lobed segments. Flowers are borne in lax terminal and axillary racemes, zygomorphic and yellow, with two outer petals one of which is spurred and the inner petals connate and crested. The fruit is a slender, dehiscent siliquiform capsule containing several shining black seeds with an elaiosome.

Within the large, taxonomically intricate genus Corydalis, this species belongs to the predominantly Asian assemblage of mesophytic, sheathing-leaved annuals, distinct from the tuberous spring-flowering groups. Its ant-dispersed seeds (myrmecochory) and shade-tolerant habit allow colonisation of disturbed forest soils. Though not assessed as threatened, populations are localised and dependent on intact temperate forest cover, sensitive to deforestation and grazing in the western Himalaya.

Author: Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan, Flowers of the Himalaya (Polunin & Stainton), Lidén & Zetterlund monograph of Corydalis

Rosaceae

Cotoneaster adpressus

by G & P Jürgens

Bois

Nepal 99 148 ergebnis
West-Nepal South of Rara-Lake 3700m, June (also Onosma bracteata)

Description

Cotoneaster adpressus is a Sino-Himalayan dwarf shrub ranging from the western Himalaya through Nepal into western and central China. GBIF holds some 1972 occurrences, combining native records in China, Nepal and India with many naturalised or cultivated ones across Europe and North America, reflecting its horticultural use. It grows on open rocky slopes, screes and meadow margins, typically between about 1900 and 3700 m. The photographed plant grows in West Nepal south of Rara Lake at roughly 3700 m in June, on dry, sun-exposed terrain shared with Onosma bracteata.

The species is a low, deciduous, often prostrate shrub forming dense mats, with rigid spreading branches that root on contact. Young branchlets are strigose-pubescent, becoming glabrous and dark brown. The leaves are small, alternate, broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 5-15 mm long, often undulate-margined and mucronate or emarginate, dull green above and pubescent on the veins beneath. Flowers are solitary or paired, nearly sessile, with erect pinkish to white petals and a campanulate hypanthium. The fruit is a small globose red pome, usually with two pyrenes.

Cotoneaster is a taxonomically intricate genus in which apomixis and polyploidy generate numerous microspecies, and several Himalayan and Chinese varieties have been described. The dense ground-hugging habit, drought tolerance and showy autumn fruit have made this species a popular rock-garden and groundcover plant that escapes cultivation in temperate regions. Within its native range it is widespread, not threatened, and dispersed by frugivorous birds.

Author: Bois · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Fryer & Hylmo: Cotoneasters – A Comprehensive Guide

Rosaceae

Cotoneaster frigidus

by G & P Jürgens

Wall. ex Lindl.

Nepal 99 567 ergebnis
West-Nepal Hurikot 2700m, June

Description

Cotoneaster frigidus is a large shrub or small tree native to the Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, India, Bhutan and China, with its many further records from Britain, New Zealand, the United States and continental Europe reflecting its long history in cultivation and naturalisation. In the wild it occupies open slopes, forest margins, scrub and ravines in the temperate Himalayan zone, typically between about 1800 and 3000 m. The plant photographed at Hurikot in West Nepal at 2700 m in June is a representative wild occurrence in the moist temperate hill forest belt, flowering as the summer monsoon approaches.

It is a vigorous, semi-deciduous shrub or small tree with arching, spreading branches and grey-brown bark. The leaves are alternate, elliptic to oblong, dark green and glabrous above and grey-tomentose beneath when young, with an entire margin and a short petiole. The small, white, five-petalled flowers are borne in dense, many-flowered, flat-topped corymbs and have numerous stamens and a half-inferior ovary. The fruit is a small, bright red, globose pome borne in heavy, conspicuous clusters that persist into winter, each containing usually two pyrenes.

Cotoneaster is a taxonomically intricate genus of the Rosaceae, subfamily Amygdaloideae (Maloideae), in which apomixis and hybridisation have generated many microspecies. Cotoneaster frigidus is among the largest-growing and most ornamental species and is the parent of widely grown garden hybrids such as the 'Cornubia' group; in parts of Britain and elsewhere it has escaped to become naturalised. Its abundant red pomes are eaten and dispersed by birds, while the nectar-rich flowers attract bees, making it ecologically valuable in both its native and introduced ranges.

Author: Wall. ex Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Fryer & Hylmö's Cotoneasters monograph

Rosaceae

Cotoneaster microphyllus

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex Lindl.

Bhutan2012 894
Bhutan Tumching-La 3850m, October
Bhutan2014 410
Bhutan Yatong-La 2900m, May
Bhutan2014 409
Bhutan Yatong-La 2900m, May

Description

Cotoneaster microphyllus is a small-leaved, prostrate to spreading shrub native to the Himalaya and western China, recorded from Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bhutan and China; extensively grown as a groundcover and rock-garden plant, it has naturalised widely, giving GBIF records from Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, the United States, Australia and New Zealand among some 2800 occurrences. In its native range it grows on rocky slopes, cliff ledges, open hillsides and amid alpine scrub from the temperate to subalpine zone. The images document it in Bhutan at Tumching-La near 3850 m in October, when the fruit is ripe, and at Yatong-La around 2900 m in May at flowering.

It is an evergreen, much-branched shrub with rigid, spreading to procumbent branches, the young shoots strigose. The leaves are small, 4-10 mm, obovate to elliptic, dark glossy green and glabrescent above, grey-tomentose beneath, with revolute margins. The flowers are solitary or in pairs, with white, spreading petals, numerous stamens with reddish anthers, and two carpels. The fruit is a globose pome 5-8 mm in diameter, bright crimson to scarlet, crowned by the persistent calyx, conspicuous against the dark foliage and persisting into winter.

Cotoneaster microphyllus belongs to a taxonomically intricate, largely apomictic complex within the genus, in which many microspecies have been segregated and circumscriptions remain contentious; much horticultural material formerly under this name belongs to related taxa. Apomixis fixes minor variants as discrete lineages. The bird-dispersed fruit accounts for its frequent escape and naturalisation, and in some regions it is regarded as a minor invasive. The wild species is common and of least conservation concern.

Author: Wall. ex Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of British India, Fryer & Hylmö Cotoneasters: A Comprehensive Guide

Gentianaceae

Crawfurdia speciosa

by G & P Jürgens

C.B.Clarke

Bhutan2015 592
Bhutan Mo-Chu 1900m, October
Bhutan2015 594
Bhutan Mo-Chu 1900m, October
Bhutan2012 938 scaled
Bhutan Tumching-La 3200m, October
Bhutan2012 936
Bhutan Tumching-La 3200m, October

Description

Crawfurdia speciosa C.B.Clarke is a climbing perennial gentian of the eastern and central Himalaya, distributed through Nepal, north-east India, Bhutan, south-west China and into northern Vietnam, with scattered records from Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is a plant of moist, shaded temperate forest, scrambling through shrubs and over the herbaceous understorey along forest margins, stream banks and clearings. The two photographed Bhutanese populations bracket its altitudinal span, from the warm Mo-Chu valley at 1900 m to the cool Tumching-La pass at 3200 m, both flowering in October. This autumn flowering, well after the monsoon, is characteristic of the twining Asian gentians and exploits the late-season window before the onset of winter.

Unlike the familiar erect, rosette-forming gentians, Crawfurdia is a slender, herbaceous, twining climber with weak quadrangular stems and opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaves tapering to an acuminate tip and bearing prominent palmate-curved venation. The flowers, solitary or few in the upper leaf axils, are showy and pendent; the campanulate to tubular corolla is blue to blue-purple, with short spreading lobes and conspicuous plicate folds (plicae) between them, a hallmark of the gentian family. The fruit is a stalked, flattened capsule that protrudes from the persistent corolla on an elongating gynophore, releasing numerous small, winged, wind-dispersed seeds.

The genus Crawfurdia is closely allied to Gentiana and Tripterospermum, and has at times been merged with them; molecular studies confirm the twining Sino-Himalayan gentians as a distinct lineage. The pendent blue corolla suggests pollination by late-season bees. Though not currently regarded as threatened, its dependence on intact mid- to high-elevation forest makes it sensitive to deforestation across its eastern Himalayan range.

Author: C.B.Clarke · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China (Gentianaceae), Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History (Struwe & Albert)

Asteraceae

Cremanthodium arnicoides 

by G & P Jürgens

R.D.Good

Garw 2005 46 ergebnis ergebnis
India Garhwal Valley of flowers 3300m, September

Description

Cremanthodium arnicoides is a Sino-Himalayan alpine composite recorded from Nepal, India and China, with additional herbarium-based occurrences abroad; GBIF lists about 268 records concentrated along the high ranges. It inhabits alpine meadows, moist grassy slopes, scree margins and streamsides, generally between roughly 3000 and 4500 m. The plant photographed in the Valley of Flowers, Garhwal (India), at about 3300 m in September captures its characteristic montane meadow habitat at the close of the monsoon flowering season, when its nodding golden capitula are conspicuous among late summer herbage.

The species is a tufted perennial herb arising from a short rhizome with fibrous roots. The basal leaves are long-petiolate with reniform to cordate, palmately veined blades and dentate margins, forming a rosette, while the stem leaves are smaller and progressively sessile. The erect, sparsely arachnoid-hairy scape bears solitary, nodding radiate capitula; the involucral bracts are blackish-green and somewhat hairy, the ligulate ray florets are yellow and elongate, and the central disc florets are tubular. The cylindrical achenes are glabrous and crowned by a copious white pappus of soft barbellate bristles.

Cremanthodium is a genus of about seventy alpine species characteristic of the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains, distinguished from related Ligularia and Senecio by its typically solitary, nodding capitula adapted to cold, high-altitude conditions, the pendent heads protecting the florets from rain and intense radiation. Many species are narrow endemics; C. arnicoides has a moderately wide Himalayan range and is not regarded as threatened, though as a high-elevation specialist it is potentially sensitive to climate warming and habitat shifts in the alpine zone.

Author: R.D.Good · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Good's revision of Cremanthodium

Asteraceae

Cremanthodium ellisii

by GP Jürgens

(Hook.f.) Kitam.

Nepal 95 164 P266 ergebnis
Nepal Rupien La 3900m October

Description

Cremanthodium ellisii is an alpine perennial of the Himalaya and the eastern Tibetan plateau, recorded from China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan, with 754 occurrences in GBIF. It is a plant of high, open habitats: alpine meadows, scree, moraine, rocky slopes and stream margins, characteristically between 3500 and 5600 m, ranking among the highest-ascending composites of the region. The Nepalese collection figured, from Rupien La at 3900 m in October, reflects its occupancy of cold, exposed pass environments and its persistence into late autumn at the lower edge of its altitudinal span, on stony, well-drained alpine soils.

It forms a stout perennial rootstock from which arise erect, often woolly or purplish flowering stems 10-40 cm tall. The basal leaves are petiolate with ovate to reniform, dentate to lobed blades, while the stem leaves become smaller and amplexicaul upward. The stems are crowned by one to several large, nodding (cernuous) capitula, the nodding habit characteristic of the genus; the involucral bracts are densely covered with dark or pale hairs. Ray florets are golden-yellow, ligulate and female, surrounding numerous tubular yellow disc florets. The fruit is a glabrous cylindrical achene bearing a pappus of soft white bristles.

Cremanthodium (Asteraceae, tribe Senecioneae) is a Sino-Himalayan genus of roughly seventy species, closely allied to Ligularia and Senecio and distinguished by its nodding heads, an adaptation protecting florets from rain and intense alpine irradiance. C. ellisii is a variable, widespread species, broadly distributed and not threatened, though as a true alpine specialist it is potentially vulnerable to upward habitat compression under climate warming.

Author: (Hook.f.) Kitam. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Monograph of Cremanthodium (Compositae, Senecioneae)

Asteraceae

Cremanthodium oblongatum

by GP Jürgens

C.B.Clarke

Sikkim2003 312 P442
Sikkim Saniti-Lake 4300m August

Description

Cremanthodium oblongatum is an alpine herb of the eastern Himalaya and southern Tibetan Plateau, recorded from Nepal, China (Xizang), India and Bhutan, with 214 occurrences in GBIF (the German points reflecting cultivated or herbarium material). It grows on open alpine meadows, screes, rocky slopes and moist turf at high elevation, generally between 3600 and 5000 m. The plant photographed near Saniti Lake in Sikkim at about 4300 m in August is typical of the cold, humid, well-irrigated alpine grassland it occupies during the brief monsoon-driven flowering period high above the treeline.

The species is a perennial herb arising from a short rhizome with fibrous roots. The mostly basal leaves are long-petiolate with oblong to elliptic, entire or shallowly toothed blades, somewhat fleshy and often with a whitish or purplish cast. The flowering stem is erect, simple and bears one or few solitary, nodding (pendent) capitula, the nodding habit being a defining genus character. Each head has a hemispherical involucre of subequal, often dark purple-haired phyllaries, an outer ray of yellow ligulate female florets and a central disc of yellow tubular bisexual florets. The fruit is a glabrous cylindrical achene crowned by a pappus of fine whitish bristles.

Cremanthodium (tribe Senecioneae) is a Sino-Himalayan alpine genus closely allied to Ligularia and Parasenecio, distinguished by its characteristically nodding heads, an adaptation thought to shelter the florets from rain, cold and ultraviolet exposure at high altitude. Pollination is by alpine bumblebees and flies, and the plumed achenes are wind-dispersed. The species is locally frequent within its narrow alpine band and is not formally assessed as threatened, but its restriction to cold high-elevation habitats makes it potentially vulnerable to climate-driven warming and the upslope compression of the alpine zone.

Author: C.B.Clarke · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Good Revision of the Genus Cremanthodium

Asteraceae

Cremanthodium palmatum

by GP Jürgens

Benth.

Sikkim2003 335 G472
Sikkim Saniti-Lake 4100m August

Description

Cremanthodium palmatum is an alpine herb of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent Sino-Himalayan mountains, recorded in GBIF (about 330 occurrences) from China, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Taiwan. It inhabits moist alpine meadows, streamsides, seepage slopes and rocky turf, generally between 3500 and 4500 m, where late-summer monsoon moisture sustains lush herbaceous growth. The photographed population at Saniti Lake in Sikkim at 4100 m in August typifies its preferred high-elevation, snowmelt-fed habitat, flowering as the brief alpine summer reaches its peak.

It is a perennial with a short rhizome and fibrous roots, producing erect, somewhat glandular-hairy stems. The basal leaves are long-petiolate and palmately lobed or divided, the blade reniform to orbicular in outline with toothed segments, recalling the foliage of a buttercup; the stem leaves are reduced and sessile upwards. The capitula are usually solitary and nodding, characteristic of the genus, with broad campanulate involucres of subequal, often dark-margined bracts. The ray florets are yellow, ligulate and spreading, surrounding numerous yellow tubular disc florets; the fruit is a cylindrical, glabrous achene crowned by a pappus of fine white bristles.

Cremanthodium belongs to tribe Senecioneae of the Asteraceae and is closely allied to Ligularia and Parasenecio, distinguished by its predominantly nodding, solitary alpine capitula. The genus is centred on the Hengduan Shan and eastern Himalaya, where rapid diversification has accompanied uplift and glacial cycling, making C. palmatum part of a characteristic high-alpine endemic radiation. Restricted to specialised cold, wet habitats but locally frequent across its range, it is not regarded as globally threatened, though such alpine specialists are sensitive to climatic warming.

Author: Benth. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Good revision of Cremanthodium