Tag:

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.

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium hookerianum

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Bhutan2012 439
Bhutan Wangdi 2500m, September
Bhutan2012 1256
Bhutan Trashigang 2000m, October
Bhutan2012 1257
Bhutan Trashigang 2000m, October

Description

Dendrobium hookerianum, Hooker's dendrobium, is an eastern Himalayan epiphytic orchid known from China, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal, with 127 GBIF occurrences concentrated in the moist mid-montane forests of the region. It grows on tree trunks and branches in humid temperate broadleaved and conifer forest, broadly between about 1500 and 2500 m. The illustrated plants were recorded in Bhutan at Wangdi (Wangdue) at 2500 m in September and at Trashigang at 2000 m in October, autumn-flowering populations in mist-laden forest where cool nights and high humidity prevail.

The species forms long, pendent or arching, slender stems clothed in tubular sheaths and bearing many distichous, lanceolate, thin-textured leaves. From the upper nodes arise lateral racemes carrying several large, golden-yellow flowers. The spreading, elliptic sepals and broader petals are clear yellow, and the broad, suborbicular, fringed labellum is conspicuously marked with two deep maroon to blackish blotches on the disc and edged with a dense marginal fringe. The mentum is short, the column with a prominent foot, and the pollinia waxy.

Named in honour of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, the species belongs to Dendrobium section Dendrobium and is prized among Himalayan orchids for its showy fringed lip. Its restricted eastern Himalayan range, autumn flowering and ornamental appeal make it a target for collectors, and combined with ongoing forest clearance this renders wild populations vulnerable. International trade in the genus is regulated under CITES Appendix II.

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

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium longicornu

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Bhutan2015 453
Bhutan Trontsa 2300m, October
Bhutan2012 441
Bhutan Wangdi 2600m, September
Bhutan2012 1331
Bhutan Pemagatse 2600m, September

Description

Dendrobium longicornu is an epiphytic orchid widespread across the eastern Himalaya and Indo-Burmese region, with GBIF recording over 300 occurrences and native range spanning India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand, besides cultivated records in Europe. It grows as an epiphyte on mossy trunks and branches in humid, temperate to subtropical broad-leaved forest, typically between about 1500 and 2700 m. Bhutanese material was photographed at Trontsa (2300 m), Wangdi and Pemagatse (both 2600 m) in September and October, flowering on shaded, moss-laden trees in cool montane woodland.

The plant forms tufted, slender, erect to pendulous stems clothed in black-hairy leaf sheaths, bearing thin, lanceolate leaves toward the apex. The flowers, borne singly or few together near the stem tips, are showy and predominantly white with a fringed labellum marked by orange to greenish veining in the throat. The narrow tepals are spreading; the diagnostic feature is the long, slender, horn-like spur (mentum) formed by the lateral sepals and column foot, from which the epithet "longicornu" derives. The column is short, the anther cap bearing waxy pollinia, and the fruit a ribbed capsule.

Within the large genus Dendrobium, this species belongs to the white-flowered Formosae (nigrohirsute) section, distinguished by the dark hairs on stems and sheaths. Although widespread, it is sought by orchid collectors and is affected by habitat loss and overharvesting; like all Dendrobium it is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb), CITES Appendix II listing

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium moniliforme

by GP Jürgens

(L.) Sw.

Bhutan2014 808
Bhutan Mo-Chu 1880m, June
Bhutan2014 809
Bhutan Mo-Chu 1880m, June
Sikkim2011 173
Sikkim Lachung 2660m, June

Description

Dendrobium moniliforme is one of the most widely distributed temperate dendrobiums, ranging from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China westward through the Himalaya to Nepal, with GBIF documenting over a thousand occurrences across this broad East Asian and Himalayan span. It grows as an epiphyte on the trunks and branches of trees, and occasionally as a lithophyte on mossy rock, in cool, humid evergreen and mixed montane forest. The species experiences a pronounced cool, dry winter rest; the photographed material from the Mo-Chu valley in Bhutan at about 1880 m and from Lachung in Sikkim at 2660 m, both in June, illustrates its occupation of mid-elevation temperate forest and its early-summer flowering.

The plant produces tufted, slender, erect or arching cane-like stems that are conspicuously jointed and somewhat swollen at the nodes, giving the necklace-like appearance evoked by the epithet. The stems are leafy above, the leaves narrowly lanceolate, thin-textured and deciduous, leaving the older canes bare. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs from the nodes of leafless stems, fragrant, and variable in colour from white to pale pink, cream or yellowish. The sepals and petals are spreading; the trilobed labellum is often marked with reddish or greenish spots and bears a hairy or warty disc, while the short column has a foot forming a mentum. The fruit is a small ellipsoid capsule.

Highly polymorphic across its enormous range, D. moniliforme is placed in Dendrobium section Dendrobium and has accumulated extensive synonymy, with numerous regional forms and horticultural selections; the alternative name appearing on the source link reflects this nomenclatural complexity. Long cultivated in East Asia and esteemed for its fragrance and cold-hardiness, it remains widespread, but localised populations are reduced by collection and habitat loss.

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

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium nobile

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Bhutan2014 170
Bhutan Trashiyangtse 2120m, May
Sikkim2004 441 G769
Sikkim/India Tista-Valley 2400m May
Sikkim2004 442 P770
Sikkim/India Tista-Valley 2400m May

Description

Dendrobium nobile is a widespread epiphytic orchid of the Himalaya and Indochina, native to China, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, and now cultivated and naturalised far beyond, with records reported from many countries reflecting its enormous horticultural popularity. In the wild it grows as an epiphyte on mossy tree trunks and on shaded rocks in subtropical to warm-temperate broadleaved forest, chiefly between about 1000 and 2500 m. The plants documented here come from Trashiyangtse in eastern Bhutan at 2120 m and from the Tista Valley in Sikkim at 2400 m, both flowering in May at the close of the dry season.

The plant forms clustered, erect to pendulous, cane-like pseudobulbous stems that are fleshy, jointed and longitudinally grooved, bearing distichous, oblong-lanceolate leaves along their length; the leaves are usually deciduous before flowering. Inflorescences arise from the nodes of the leafless canes, each short raceme bearing one to three large, showy, fragrant flowers. The sepals and petals are white to rose-pink, deepening toward the tips, while the broad, rounded labellum is downy and conspicuously marked with a deep maroon-purple blotch in its throat ringed by paler margins. The column is short and the pollinia waxy; the fruit is an elongate dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

As the nomenclatural type of section Dendrobium, this species is among the most important and intensively bred orchids in cultivation, with countless hybrids and named clones. Wild populations, however, have been heavily depleted by over-collection for horticulture and traditional medicine, and the species is listed on CITES Appendix II. Continued habitat loss across its native range makes in-situ conservation and sustainable trade regulation a significant concern.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, The Orchids of Bhutan (Pearce & Cribb), Flora of Bhutan, CITES Appendices, Dendrobium monograph

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium porphyrochilum

by G & P Jürgens

Lindl.

BhutanPG2011 422011 Bhutan Dendrobium porphyrochilum
Bhutan Wangdi, 2500m June
BhutanPG2011 41
Bhutan Wangdi, 2500m June

Description

Dendrobium porphyrochilum is a small epiphytic orchid of the Eastern Himalaya and adjacent Southeast Asia, recorded from India, Nepal, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Vietnam and Bhutan, with a modest set of georeferenced occurrences in GBIF. It grows as an epiphyte on the mossy trunks and branches of trees in cool, humid evergreen and mixed montane forest, where steady atmospheric moisture and a seasonal cool rest govern its growth. The species occurs at middle elevations of the temperate forest belt; the photographed plant from Wangdue in western Bhutan at about 2500 m, flowering in June, is typical of its altitudinal preference and its early-summer anthesis with the onset of the monsoon.

The plant forms small, tufted, slender, somewhat fusiform or cane-like stems clustered together, each bearing a few narrow, grass-like leaves toward the apex. The inflorescence is a short, arching to pendent raceme bearing several relatively small, nodding flowers that open more or less together. The sepals and petals are yellowish-green to olive or pale greenish, narrow and spreading. The labellum, from which the epithet derives, contrasts sharply, being deep purple to maroon-brown, recurved and obscurely lobed, sometimes bearing low keels along the disc. The short column has a foot forming a small mentum with the lateral sepals. The fruit is a small capsule.

The species belongs to Dendrobium section Oxyglossum (in the broad sense applied to small-flowered Himalayan dendrobiums of this alliance) and is distinguished among its temperate relatives by the dark, contrastingly coloured lip set against pale tepals. As a forest epiphyte of restricted abundance, it is dependent on intact, humid mid-elevation woodland and is therefore susceptible to deforestation and to over-collection, although it has not been formally assessed for conservation status.

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

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium rotundatum

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f.

Nepal 97 424 P815
Nepal Tashigaon 3100m May

Description

Dendrobium rotundatum Hook.f. is an epiphytic orchid of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent ranges, distributed through Nepal, northern India, Bhutan and into south-western China and Myanmar, with a GBIF record of about 122 occurrences (including a cultivated citation from Belgium) that reflects its relatively narrow distribution and inconspicuous habit. It grows perched on the trunks and branches of trees in cool, humid temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, where mossy bark and high atmospheric moisture sustain its epiphytic roots. The illustrated plant was recorded at Tashigaon in eastern Nepal at 3100 m in May, an elevation at the cool, montane end of the genus's range and a season corresponding to flowering as spring conditions return to the forest.

It is a small epiphyte with slender, often pendent to ascending stems (pseudobulbs) that are somewhat swollen and jointed, bearing distichous, thin-textured, oblong to lanceolate leaves along their length, these often deciduous in the dormant season. The flowers are produced from the nodes, solitary or few together, and are relatively small; the sepals and petals are subequal, with the lateral sepals united at the base to the column foot to form a short, rounded mentum or chin, an attribute echoed in the epithet rotundatum. The labellum is entire to obscurely three-lobed, the disc often bearing low ridges or a callus, and the column is short and footed in the typical Dendrobium pattern. The fruit is a ribbed, dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

Dendrobium, with its centre of diversity in tropical and subtropical Asia, is one of the largest orchid genera, and the cool-growing, small-flowered Himalayan species such as D. rotundatum represent its montane, temperate fringe. As an epiphyte it depends on intact, humid old-growth forest and on mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination, making it sensitive to logging and habitat degradation. Like most orchids it is listed under CITES Appendix II to regulate international trade, and although not separately assessed as threatened, its restricted range and habitat specificity warrant ongoing monitoring of wild populations.

Author: Hook.f. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Orchids of Nepal (Raskoti), The Genus Dendrobium (Wood)

Orchideaceae

Dendrobium transparens 

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex Lindl.

Nepal 2001 474 ergebnis ergebnis scaled
Nepal 2001 475 ergebnis ergebnis scaled
Nepal (Gorkha) Labubhesi 1200m, May

Description

Dendrobium transparens is an epiphytic orchid distributed across the eastern and central Himalaya and into the Indo-Burmese region, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Thailand, with introduced or cultivated occurrences in western Europe. The species favours warm-temperate to subtropical broad-leaved forest, growing on tree trunks and mossy branches between roughly 800 and 1800 m. The photographed plant from Gorkha at Labubhesi, central Nepal, around 1200 m and flowering in May, is typical of its preferred mid-elevation, humid forested ravines where seasonal monsoon moisture and bright filtered light coincide.

The plant forms slender, pendent or sub-erect, cane-like stems that are somewhat flattened and longitudinally grooved, sheathed by membranous leaf-bases. The leaves are distichous, narrowly lanceolate, thin-textured and deciduous, leaving the leafless canes to bear flowers. Inflorescences are short, lateral, two- to three-flowered fascicles from the nodes of older stems. The flowers are translucent white to pale rose, the sepals and petals delicate and spreading; the labellum is broadly obovate to sub-orbicular, often marked with two deep magenta to purple blotches at the throat, and the short mentum gives the bloom its semi-pendent posture.

The specific epithet transparens alludes to the thin, almost translucent perianth segments. Within Dendrobium it belongs among the deciduous-leaved, soft-caned sections allied to D. nobile, a complex of considerable horticultural interest. As with most Himalayan epiphytic orchids, it is dependent on intact forest cover and mycorrhizal associations, and is vulnerable to habitat clearance and collection pressure, though it remains locally frequent across its broad range.

Author: Wall. ex Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 25, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Flora of Nepal, The Genus Dendrobium (Wood)

Hydrangeaceae

Deutzia corymbosa

by GP Jürgens

R.Br. ex G.Don

BhutanPG2011 820 01 01
Bhutan Chele-La, 3400m July

Description

Deutzia corymbosa is a flowering shrub of Himalayan temperate forests, with GBIF documenting 99 occurrences from India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, plus a few cultivated or vouchered records from Europe and North America. It grows on forest margins, shrubby slopes, rocky banks and clearings in the temperate to lower subalpine zone, often in mixed broadleaved and conifer forest. It was recorded on the Chele-La in Bhutan at about 3400 m in July, a high-summer flowering at the upper part of its range where the white corymbs are conspicuous against the montane scrub.

It is a deciduous shrub with erect to arching branches and exfoliating bark on the older stems. The leaves are opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, finely serrate, and clothed in stellate hairs that give the foliage a slightly rough texture characteristic of the genus. The inflorescence is a flattened, many-flowered corymb, as the epithet corymbosa indicates; each flower has five white, spreading petals, five sepals, ten stamens with the toothed or winged filaments typical of Deutzia, and three to four styles. The fruit is a small, hemispherical to top-shaped, several-valved capsule.

Deutzia (Hydrangeaceae) comprises shrubs of east Asia, Central America and the Himalaya, with a rich Sino-Himalayan representation and many ornamental species; the corymbose-inflorescenced group to which D. corymbosa belongs is distinctive within the genus. Widely grown and hybridised in horticulture, it is common across its broad native range and not of conservation concern. As an element of the temperate Himalayan shrub layer, it is of biogeographic interest within the disjunct east-Asian to Himalayan distribution pattern shown by many Hydrangeaceae.

Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Zaikonnikova's monograph of Deutzia (Hydrangeaceae)

Hydrangeaceae

Deutzia staminea

by GP Jürgens

R.Br. ex Wall.

Nepal 97 304 P605
Nepal Honggaon 2360m, May

Description

Deutzia staminea is a deciduous shrub distributed across the western and central Himalayas, from Pakistan through northern India and Nepal to Bhutan, with populations extending into southwest China and northern Myanmar. GBIF records approximately 390 occurrences, with the majority from India and Nepal. The species occupies dry to mesic slopes, open forests, scrublands, and rocky hillsides at elevations of 1,500–3,200 m. At Honggaon in central Nepal at 2,360 m, it inhabits open Pinus–Quercus forests and rocky banks, where it flowers prolifically in May during the pre-monsoon season.
Deutzia staminea is a deciduous shrub reaching 1.5–4 m in height, with greyish-brown bark that exfoliates in thin flakes on older stems. Leaves are opposite, ovate to lanceolate, 3–8 cm long, with serrate margins and a rough texture from stellate trichomes on both surfaces. The inflorescence is a terminal corymb or panicle of 5–20 flowers. Flowers are pentamerous, 12–18 mm in diameter, with white petals that are oblong-elliptic and spreading. The stamens, 10 in number, are distinctive: the filaments are broadly winged and toothed at the apex, exceeding the petals — a character reflected in the specific epithet 'staminea.' The fruit is a hemispheric capsule, 4–6 mm across, dehiscing by 3–4 valves and releasing numerous small seeds.
Deutzia staminea is the most widespread Himalayan representative of the genus and is distinguished from the closely related D. compacta by its prominently toothed stamen filaments and generally laxer inflorescences. The species serves as an important early-season nectar resource for pollinators in mid-elevation Himalayan landscapes, where relatively few shrubs are in flower during the pre-monsoon period. It is occasionally cultivated in European gardens and has been in cultivation since its introduction by Wallich in the early nineteenth century.

Author: R.Br. ex Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 8, Flora of Pakistan Vol. 192, Polunin & Stainton: Flowers of the Himalaya (1984)

Diapensiaceae

Diapensia himalaica

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

BhutanPG2011 447
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4100m June

Description

Diapensia himalaica Hook.f. & Thomson is a high-alpine cushion plant of the Sino-Himalayan mountains, recorded from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar (CN, IN, NP, BT, MM), with GBIF documenting some 304 occurrences. It is a plant of the upper alpine and subnival belt, on exposed rocky ridges, gravelly slopes, moraines and turf margins, generally above 4000 m where wind exposure and a short growing season prevail. The Bhutanese material from Jule-Tso at 4100 m in June illustrates its early-summer flowering after snow-melt, when the cushions are studded with relatively large solitary flowers.

It forms a compact, evergreen, woody cushion of densely crowded shoots clothed in small, leathery, imbricate leaves. These are narrowly spathulate to oblong, sessile, with a thickened entire margin and a coriaceous texture resisting desiccation. The flowers are solitary and terminal on short stalks scarcely exceeding the cushion, actinomorphic and five-merous, with a persistent calyx and a campanulate to rotate corolla of fused white to pale pink petals; the five stamens are adnate to the corolla tube. The fruit is a small loculicidal capsule with numerous minute wind-dispersed seeds.

Diapensia is the type genus of the small, isolated family Diapensiaceae, an arctic-alpine lineage of ericalean affinity, and D. himalaica is the Himalayan vicariant of the circumboreal D. lapponica complex. The compact cushion habit is a classic adaptation to cold, wind-swept, nutrient-poor high mountains. Its biogeographic importance lies in linking the Himalayan high-alpine flora to arctic and boreal cushion-plant communities, and as a slow-growing specialist it is sensitive to climate change.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of China Vol. 14, Flora of Nepal, Scott & Day monograph of the Diapensiaceae