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.

Fabaceae

Erythrina arborescens

by GP Jürgens

Roxb.

Bhutan2015 65
Bhutan Wangdi Phodrang 1900m, October
Bhutan2012 464
Bhutan Wangdi 2500m, September

Description

Erythrina arborescens is a Himalayan to Southeast Asian coral tree distributed across China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Japan and Thailand, with about 369 GBIF occurrences spanning this wide subtropical to warm-temperate range. It grows in open broad-leaved forest, forest margins, valley slopes and disturbed ground, generally from about 1300 to 3000 m. The trees photographed near Wangdi Phodrang in Bhutan at about 1900 m in October and at about 2500 m in September illustrate its mid-elevation valley habitat, where its scarlet flower spikes appear after the leaves toward the close of the monsoon.

The species is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree with a stout trunk and branches armed with scattered conical prickles. The leaves are alternate and trifoliolate, with broadly ovate to rhombic leaflets, the terminal one largest, on a long prickly petiole. The inflorescence is a dense terminal raceme of large, showy, bright red papilionaceous flowers in which the broad standard petal is conspicuously enlarged while the wings and keel are reduced, an arrangement adapted to bird pollination. The fruit is an elongate, torulose, dehiscent legume constricted between the few shining red-brown seeds.

Erythrina is a pantropical genus of about 130 species notable for ornithophilous, nectar-rich flowers and seeds containing toxic isoquinoline alkaloids. E. arborescens is among the few species extending into temperate Himalayan elevations, its post-monsoon flowering and copious nectar attracting sunbirds and other nectarivorous birds that serve as pollinators. Widely distributed and tolerant of disturbance, it is of least concern; it is locally valued as a shade and ornamental tree and features in traditional medicine across its range.

Author: Roxb. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Krukoff & Barneby studies of Erythrina

Fabaceae

Erythrina stricta

by GP Jürgens

Roxb.

Nepal1992 23 P32 ergebnis
Nepal Kharang 1250m March 
Nepal1992 84 P118 ergebnis
Nepal Kharang 1250m, March 

Description

Erythrina stricta Roxb. is a deciduous coral tree widely distributed across tropical and subtropical Asia, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; its GBIF dataset of 346 occurrences reflects both wild populations and frequent planting. It occurs in open subtropical forest, forest margins, scrub and along cultivated land in the foothills, broadly from the lowlands to about 1500 m. The photographed tree at Kharang in Nepal at about 1250 m, flowering in March, exemplifies its dry-season, leafless flowering in the warm subtropical hill zone of the outer Himalaya, conspicuous as a flush of scarlet bloom on bare branches.

The species is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree with a straight bole and armed branches bearing scattered conical prickles. The leaves are alternate and trifoliolate with broadly ovate to deltoid, entire leaflets, the terminal one rhombic-ovate and larger than the laterals; they are typically shed before flowering. The inflorescence is a dense, erect, terminal raceme of showy papilionaceous flowers; the large, bright scarlet to crimson standard is narrow and nearly straight, much exceeding the small keel and wings, and the nectar-rich flowers attract birds. The fruit is an elongate, torulose, constricted legume that splits to release several reddish, bean-like seeds.

Erythrina (Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, tribe Phaseoleae) is a pantropical genus of bird-pollinated coral trees; E. stricta belongs to the Asian assemblage with erect, narrow-standard flowers on leafless branches. It is widely planted as an ornamental, shade and support tree and as a living fence, and its bark and seeds contain Erythrina alkaloids of pharmacological interest. Broadly distributed, fast-growing and commonly cultivated, it is of no conservation concern and serves ecologically as an early dry-season nectar source for birds and insects.

Author: Roxb. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of British India, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Krukoff & Barneby — Conspectus of the genus Erythrina

Orchideaceae

Eulophia dabia 

by GP Jürgens

Hochr.

Nepal 2001 226 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal Gorkha Tullikot 2000m, May

Description

Eulophia dabia is a terrestrial orchid distributed across the temperate and subtropical belts of Central and southern Asia, with verified records (some 166 GBIF occurrences) spanning China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, reflecting a broadly Irano-Turanian to Sino-Himalayan range. In the Himalaya it favours open grassy slopes, scrubland and disturbed pasture on well-drained soils, flowering with the onset of pre-monsoon warmth. The plant illustrated was photographed near Tullikot in the Gorkha district of central Nepal at about 2000 m in May, typical of the species' preference for sunlit, seasonally dry meadow habitats at middle elevations.

The species is a tuberous geophyte producing subterranean, somewhat cormous pseudobulbs from which arise erect, often leafless or scarcely leafy flowering scapes that emerge before or with the foliage. The leaves are linear-lanceolate, plicate and grass-like, sheathing at the base. Flowers are borne in a loose terminal raceme; the tepals are narrow and spreading, typically dull greenish to purplish-brown, while the trilobed labellum bears longitudinal lamellae or papillose crests and a short spur or saccate base. The fruit is a pendent, ellipsoid dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds adapted for wind dispersal and obligate mycorrhizal germination.

Within Eulophia, a large pantropical genus, E. dabia belongs to the group of dry-ground terrestrials whose seasonal, drought-deciduous habit suits monsoonal climates. Like all orchids it is listed under CITES Appendix II, restricting international trade, though the species itself is not regarded as globally threatened owing to its wide range. Its dependence on mycorrhizal fungi and on grazed or open grassland makes it sensitive to land-use change and overgrazing at the local scale.

Author: Hochr. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China, The Orchids of the Himalaya (King & Pantling), CITES Appendix II

Celastraceae

Euonymus frigidus

by G & P Jürgens

Wall.

Sikkim 2006 184 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Samadan 2300m, May
BhutanPG2011 82 ergebnis scaled
Bhutan Menchuang 2850m, June

Description

Euonymus frigidus is a Himalayan spindle tree distributed from central Nepal through northeast India, Sikkim, Bhutan, and northern Myanmar to southwest China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang). GBIF records over 1,570 occurrences, with the majority from China and the eastern Himalayas. The species inhabits cool-temperate and subalpine broadleaved and mixed forests, often growing along forest margins, stream gullies, and shaded slopes at elevations of 1,800–3,200 m. Collections from Samadan in West Bengal at 2,300 m and from Menchuang in Bhutan at 2,850 m illustrate its typical occurrence in the mid-elevation broadleaved forest zone of the eastern Himalayan slopes.
Euonymus frigidus is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching 3–8 m in height, with smooth, greyish-green bark on younger branches. Leaves are opposite, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 6–14 cm long, acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, with finely crenate-serrate margins, glabrous on both surfaces, and turning reddish-purple in autumn. The inflorescence is an axillary, dichasial cyme bearing 7–15 flowers on slender peduncles. Flowers are tetramerous, small, 6–8 mm in diameter, with greenish-yellow to purplish petals and a conspicuous four-lobed disc. The fruit is a deeply four-lobed capsule, pink to crimson at maturity, splitting to reveal four seeds each enclosed in a bright orange aril — a striking ornamental feature.
The specific epithet 'frigidus' alludes to the cold-temperate habitats in which this species predominantly occurs. Euonymus frigidus is distinguished from the closely related E. hamiltonianus by its generally larger leaves, more deeply lobed capsules, and preference for higher elevations. The conspicuous arillate fruits are an important food source for frugivorous birds, including minivets and laughingthrushes, which serve as effective dispersal agents. The species is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental in European and North American gardens for its vivid autumn colour and decorative fruit.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 11, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Grierson & Long: Flora of Bhutan (1991)

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia griffithii

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f.

Bhutan2014 976
Bhutan Chele-La 3400m, May
Bhutan2014 397
Bhutan Chele-La 3400m, May
Bh09 245 P408
Bhutan 2009
Sikkim 2006 352 ergebnis
Sikkim 2006 368 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tamrong 2650m, May

Description

Euphorbia griffithii is a herbaceous perennial spurge of the eastern Himalayan mountains, with 538 GBIF occurrences spanning China, Bhutan, Myanmar, India and Nepal, alongside numerous cultivated records from Britain, Germany, France and North America, reflecting its popularity as a hardy garden perennial. It grows in open subalpine meadows, forest clearings, scrub and grassy slopes in the upper temperate to subalpine zone. It was recorded on the Chele-La in Bhutan at about 3400 m and at Tamrong in West Bengal, India, at about 2650 m, both in May, when the bracts colour vividly at the start of the growing season.

It is an erect, clump-forming herb arising from a creeping rhizome, the unbranched or sparingly branched stems exuding white latex when cut. The leaves are alternate, oblong to oblanceolate, entire, often flushed reddish and frequently with a pale midrib. The inflorescence is a terminal umbel-like cyme of cyathia, each cyathium a cup of fused bracts enclosing reduced flowers; the floral leaves and bracts beneath the cyathia turn fiery orange-red, providing the conspicuous display, while the involucral glands are typically yellowish. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule splitting into mericarps.

Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) is one of the largest plant genera, and E. griffithii belongs to its temperate, rhizomatous, herbaceous element rather than the succulent xerophytes. Long in cultivation, with selections such as the well-known coloured-bracted cultivars, it is widespread and secure across its native range. Its brilliant bract colouration and montane meadow habitat make it both a horticulturally important and biogeographically representative member of the eastern Himalayan herbaceous flora.

Author: Hook.f. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Radcliffe-Smith's treatment of Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae)

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia luteoviridis

by GP Jürgens

D.G.Long

Sikkim2004 412 P707
Sikkim/India Lachung 3700m May
Sikkim 2006 128 ergebnis
Sikkim 2006 127 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Molley 3630m, May

Description

Euphorbia luteoviridis D.G.Long is an eastern Himalayan spurge recorded from Nepal, India, China and Bhutan (NP, IN, CN, BT), with GBIF documenting about 38 occurrences across this narrow range. It is a plant of the upper temperate to subalpine zone, growing on open slopes, forest margins, rocky banks and grazed pastures generally between about 3000 and 4000 m. The images from Lachung in Sikkim at 3700 m and Molley in West Bengal at 3630 m, both in May, illustrate its spring flowering, when the yellowish-green cyathial bracts emerge against the recovering alpine sward.

It is a perennial herb arising from a woody rootstock, producing one to several erect or ascending stems. The leaves are alternate, entire, oblong to oblanceolate or spathulate, with whorled, broader floral leaves subtending the inflorescence. This is the characteristic euphorbioid pseudanthium: a terminal pleiochasium with several rays, each cyathium subtended by yellow-green bracts and enclosing a single naked female flower surrounded by reduced male flowers, with crescentic nectar glands on the rim. The fruit is a three-lobed schizocarpic capsule splitting explosively into cocci; all parts exude the toxic milky latex typical of the genus.

Euphorbia luteoviridis was described comparatively recently by D.G.Long during work on the eastern Himalayan flora, and belongs to the herbaceous perennial spurges well represented in the high mountains. Its restricted distribution gives it significance as a regional endemic, while the latex confers chemical defence against herbivores in the grazed pastures it inhabits. No global threat assessment is widely published, but its limited range warrants attention.

Author: D.G.Long · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of China Vol. 11, Flora of Nepal, Radcliffe-Smith treatments of Himalayan Euphorbia

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia pseudosikkimensis 

by G & P Jürgens

(Hurus. & Tanaka) Radcl.-Sm.

Sikkim 2006 323 ergebnis
India Sikkim Ringi-Chu 2250m, May
Sikkim 2006 464 ergebnis
India Sikkim Ringi-Chu 2250m, May
Sikkim 2006 324 ergebnis
India Sikkim Ringi-Chu 2250m, May

Description

Euphorbia pseudosikkimensis is a robust perennial spurge native to the eastern Himalayas, occurring in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and adjacent parts of China. It inhabits moist forests, forest clearings, and stream banks at 1,800–3,000 m.

The plant forms tall, erect stems up to 1.5 m high, with whorled, oblong-lanceolate leaves that are dark green above and paler beneath. The inflorescence is a large, showy cyathium with conspicuous bright yellow-green glands, giving the impression of striking yellow flowers in spring. Like all Euphorbia species, it exudes a milky white latex when stems or leaves are broken.

In traditional medicine of the region, the latex has been used cautiously as a purgative, though it is irritant and toxic in larger quantities. The species is sometimes confused with E. sikkimensis, from which it differs in leaf shape and gland morphology.

Author: (Hurus. & Tanaka) Radcl.-Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan, eFlora of China

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia royleana

by GP Jürgens

Boiss.

Bhutan2014 202
Bhutan Trashyangtse 2100m, May
Bhutan2014 203
Bhutan Trashyangtse 2100m, May
Nepal 2001 516 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Mulabari 1340m, May

Description

Euphorbia royleana is a succulent, tree-like spurge of warm, dry valleys across the Himalaya and adjacent regions. With 148 GBIF occurrences, it ranges through Nepal, India, China, Pakistan and Bhutan, with cultivated or introduced records noted elsewhere including Belgium, Egypt and the United States, reflecting its use as an ornamental and hedge plant. It is characteristic of hot, semi-arid slopes, rocky hillsides and degraded scrub in the subtropical to lower temperate zone, often on south-facing rain-shadow exposures. It was recorded at Trashyangtse in Bhutan at about 2100 m and at Mulabari in Gorkha, Nepal, at about 1340 m, both in May.

It is a stout, cactus-like succulent shrub or small tree with a short woody trunk and erect, candelabriform branches that are fleshy, grey-green and obtusely five- to seven-angled. Paired, short stipular spines arise on the angles, subtending small, fugacious leaves clustered near the branch tips. As in all Euphorbia the inflorescence is a cyathium: cup-like involucres bearing nectar glands enclose the reduced unisexual flowers, here borne in small cymose clusters and yielding the abundant caustic white latex typical of the genus. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule splitting into three mericarps.

Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) is among the largest of all plant genera, and E. royleana belongs to its succulent, xerophytic Old World element adapted to seasonal aridity. Long valued in the region for living fences and traditional medicine, it is widely planted, and its milky latex is irritant and toxic. The species is not of conservation concern, being common and frequently cultivated, but it is an important structural and biogeographic component of dry inner-Himalayan valley vegetation.

Author: Boiss. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Boissier's monograph of Euphorbia in de Candolle's Prodromus

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia sikkimensis

by G & P Jürgens

Boiss.

Nepal 2001 302 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Lambra Kharka 3100m, May
Nepal 2001 301 ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Lambra Kharka 3100m, May
Nepal 97 86 P146
Nepal Tankhu 2100m April

Description

Euphorbia sikkimensis is a robust herbaceous spurge distributed across the eastern and central Himalaya, from central Nepal through Sikkim, Bhutan, and northeast India into southern China (Xizang, Yunnan), with peripheral records from Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. It occurs in subalpine meadows, forest clearings, scrub margins, and open hillsides at elevations of 1,800–3,500 m. The species has been documented from the Gorkha district of Nepal at Lambra Kharka at 3,100 m in May and near Tankhu at 2,100 m in April, indicating a broad elevational amplitude and early-season phenology at lower altitudes.
The plant is a stout, erect perennial herb, 30–80 cm tall, with thick, fleshy rootstock and unbranched or sparingly branched stems that exude copious white latex when cut. Leaves are alternate, sessile, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 8–15 cm long and 1–2.5 cm wide, with a prominent pale midrib, entire margins, and a glaucous undersurface. The inflorescence is a terminal, compound cyathium typical of the genus, with a broad umbel of 4–8 primary rays, each ray subtended by obovate, yellowish-green floral bracts. The cyathia bear crescent-shaped glands with short horns. The fruit is a smooth, trilocular capsule approximately 6–8 mm in diameter, explosively dehiscent at maturity, with carunculate seeds.
Euphorbia sikkimensis was described by Boissier from Sikkim collections and belongs to Euphorbia subgenus Esula, a predominantly Eurasian clade of herbaceous spurges. It is notable for its striking appearance in early spring, when the bright red or pink-tinged new stems contrast with the yellowish-green inflorescences. The species has gained horticultural recognition in temperate gardens and is increasingly cultivated as an ornamental perennial in Europe. Ecologically, its copious latex deters herbivory, and it plays a role in early-season pollinator support in montane grassland ecosystems.

Author: Boiss. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 11, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia stracheyi

by G & P Jürgens

Boiss.

Nepal 99 313 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 4200m, June
Nepal 99 314 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 4200m, June

Description

Euphorbia stracheyi is a widespread high-altitude spurge of the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, distributed from Nepal, northern India and Bhutan eastward into SW China, with outlying records southeast to Laos and Vietnam. The GBIF dataset, with around 946 occurrences across CN, NP, IN, BT, LA and VN, confirms this broad Sino-Himalayan range. The plant shown was photographed in western Nepal at Kalmura at about 4,200 m in June. It is a true alpine, growing on open stony slopes, gravelly pastures, moraine and turf between roughly 3,000 and 4,800 m, where its prostrate, mat-forming habit suits the cold, exposed and seasonally snow-covered ground.

The species arises from a slender, often elongate creeping rhizome bearing numerous decumbent to ascending reddish stems. The leaves are small, alternate, obovate to oblong and entire. As in all Euphorbia, the inflorescence is a cyathium: the apparent flowers are condensed pseudanthia in which crescent-shaped or transversely elliptic nectar glands surround reduced unisexual flowers, the female reduced to a single stalked tricarpellate ovary and the males to single stamens, the whole subtended by leafy, often reddish-tinged bracts. The fruit is a smooth three-lobed schizocarpic capsule that splits into three mericarps, releasing ovoid seeds; the plant exudes the milky latex typical of the genus.

Euphorbia stracheyi belongs to the subgenus Esula, a group of herbaceous spurges well represented at high elevations across central Asia. Its dwarf, cushion-like form and reddish coloration are adaptations to intense radiation and short growing seasons. The caustic latex deters herbivory and the species is locally common; it is not considered threatened, though like all Euphorbia it falls under CITES listing of the genus for trade-monitoring purposes.

Author: Boiss. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 11, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Radcliffe-Smith: Euphorbia in the Flora of Pakistan