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.

Caprifoliaceae

Lonicera hispida

by GP Jürgens

Pall. ex Schult.

BhutanPG2011 590
Bhutan Kem-La 4100m, July
Garh 07 111 ergebnis
India Garhwal Meggu Kichatti 3200m, June

Description

Lonicera hispida is a deciduous shrub of the high mountains of Central and High Asia, ranging through the Himalaya from Pakistan and India to Nepal and Bhutan, across Tibet and western China, and northward into the Tien Shan, Pamir-Alai and Altai of Central Asia and Russia. It grows in subalpine and alpine scrub, open coniferous forest, stream banks and rocky slopes, typically between about 2500 and 4500 m. The photographed material comes from Kem-La in Bhutan at around 4100 m and from Meggu Kichatti in Indian Garhwal at about 3200 m, flowering in June and July. With over 3100 georeferenced records it is a well-documented and widespread montane honeysuckle.

It forms an erect, much-branched shrub up to about 2 m, the young shoots and petioles bristly-hispid with stiff spreading hairs and glandular bristles, the older bark exfoliating. The leaves are opposite, oblong to elliptic, ciliate and bristly-margined, often glaucous beneath. The flowers are borne in axillary pairs subtended by large, broad, persistent bracts that enlarge in fruit; the corolla is tubular-funnelform, white to pale yellow, weakly two-lipped, with a gibbous base and exserted stamens and style. The paired ovaries are partly united, and the fruit is a fleshy berry, red at maturity, the bracts often colouring and partly enclosing the twin fruits.

Lonicera hispida belongs to section Isika and is distinguished by its conspicuously hispid bristly indumentum and large floral bracts. It is morphologically variable across its enormous range, and several varieties have been recognised. The berries are taken by birds, aiding dispersal. As a common, broadly distributed alpine shrub it is of least conservation concern.

Author: Pall. ex Schult. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Rehder's revision of Lonicera

Caprifoliaceae

Lonicera obovata

by G & P Jürgens

Royle ex Hook.f. & Thomson

Garh 07 116 ergebnis
India Garhwal Meggu Kichatti 3300m, June

Description

Lonicera obovata is a Himalayan shrubby honeysuckle distributed through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, NW India, Bhutan and SW China, with 424 occurrences recorded in GBIF. It inhabits high-elevation shrubberies, open coniferous and birch woodland margins, rocky slopes and the upper subalpine to alpine zone. The photographed material from Meggu Kichatti in Garhwal, India, at about 3,300 m in June, represents typical habitat where the plant flowers as the snow recedes, often forming low thickets among rocks and dwarf rhododendron.

It is a deciduous, much-branched dwarf shrub usually 0.3–1 m tall with slender, often arching branches. The leaves are opposite, small, obovate to elliptic as the epithet implies, 1–3 cm long, rounded or retuse at the apex and somewhat glaucous, with short petioles. The flowers are borne in axillary pairs on short peduncles; the twin corollas are funnelform, pale yellow to creamy white, two-lipped, with the ovaries of the paired flowers partly connate. The fruit is a fused, ovoid, red berry crowned by the persistent calyx teeth, the paired ovaries coalescing into a single bilocular fruit.

The species belongs to Lonicera sect. Isika, a group of paired-flowered honeysuckles with connate fruits. GBIF records it as accepted. It is a hardy element of the West and Central Himalayan alpine flora, ecologically important as a nectar source for high-altitude pollinators and as cover in exposed terrain, and is not considered threatened across its broad montane range.

Author: Royle ex Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 19, Flora of Pakistan, GBIF, Rehder: Synopsis of the Genus Lonicera (1903)

Caprifoliaceae

Lonicera purpurascens

by G & P Jürgens

Walp.

Garh 07 112 ergebnis
India Garhwal Meggu Kichatti 3200m, June

Description

Lonicera purpurascens Walp. is a deciduous shrubby honeysuckle of the western and central Himalaya. GBIF occurrence data place it principally in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Myanmar, confirming a chiefly Himalayan distribution. It is a plant of subalpine forest and shrubberies, growing among Abies, Betula and Rhododendron stands and along open rocky slopes, generally between about 2,800 and 3,800 m. The illustrated plant from Meggu Kichatti in Garhwal at 3,200 m, flowering in June, is characteristic of its occurrence in the upper temperate to subalpine belt where it blooms shortly after snowmelt.

It is an erect to spreading shrub up to 1.5–2 m tall with terete, glabrescent young branches and ovate to elliptic, entire leaves that are often glaucous and purplish-tinged beneath. The flowers are borne in axillary pairs on a common peduncle, subtended by bracts; the corolla is two-lipped, gibbous at the base, and ranges from yellowish to purple-flushed, hence the epithet. The paired ovaries are partly fused, and the resulting berries are red, more or less connate, each containing several seeds.

The species is one of numerous Himalayan Lonicera within the section Isika, and the purplish foliage and connate fruits distinguish it from allied taxa such as L. quinquelocularis and L. webbiana. Its berries provide food for montane birds, contributing to seed dispersal. The species is widespread within the Himalayan arc and is not currently regarded as of conservation concern.

Author: Walp. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Rehder: Synopsis of the Genus Lonicera

Caprifoliaceae

Lonicera quinquelocularis

by G & P Jürgens

Hardw.

Bhutan2014 1083
Bhutan Paro 2000m, May

Description

Lonicera quinquelocularis is a deciduous shrub of the Himalayan and Sino-Himalayan temperate zone, ranging from Afghanistan and Pakistan eastward through India, Nepal and Bhutan into south-western China; with some 873 georeferenced records it is among the better-documented honeysuckles of the region (European and North American records reflect cultivation). It grows in open forest, scrub, forest margins, riverine thickets and rocky hillsides, chiefly between 1500 and 3000 m. The illustrated plant from Paro in western Bhutan at 2000 m, flowering in May, typifies its occurrence in the temperate broadleaf and conifer zone where it forms part of the understorey and forest-edge shrub community.

It is a much-branched shrub 2-5 m tall with greyish, peeling bark and ovate to elliptic, entire leaves that are softly pubescent, often greyish beneath, arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are borne in axillary pairs on a common peduncle; each is two-lipped and creamy-white, ageing to yellow, fragrant, with a short tube. The bracts and bracteoles subtend the paired ovaries. A diagnostic feature reflected in the epithet is the five-locular ovary. The most striking character is the fruit: the two berries of each pair fuse and ripen translucent, the seeds visible within, turning purple-black, giving rise to the English name "translucent-berry honeysuckle."

Described by Hardwicke (as Hardw.), the species belongs to Lonicera section Coeloxylosteum of the Caprifoliaceae. The conspicuous semi-transparent berries are dispersed by birds, while the nectar-rich flowers attract bees and other insects. The species is widespread and locally common, used as fuel and hedging and occasionally cultivated as an ornamental; it is not considered threatened.

Author: Hardw. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of China, Rehder's monograph of Lonicera (Caprifoliaceae)

Caprifoliaceae

Lonicera webbiana

by GP Jürgens

Wall.

Bh09 39 P71
Bhutan Paro 2400m, June

Description

Lonicera webbiana is a deciduous shrub of the temperate Himalaya and adjoining Central Asian mountains, distributed from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan eastwards through Kashmir, northern India, Nepal and Bhutan into south-western China and Myanmar, with over 2000 occurrence records (those from Europe and North America representing cultivated material). It grows in coniferous and mixed forest, forest margins, thickets and shrubberies, chiefly between about 2400 and 3600 m. The specimen photographed at Paro in Bhutan at 2400 m in June illustrates its early-summer flowering within the upper temperate forest belt.

The shrub reaches 2-3 m, with hollow young branches and ovate to elliptic-lanceolate leaves that are acuminate at the apex, often ciliate and softly pubescent beneath. Flowers are borne in pairs on a slender, drooping peduncle, each pair subtended by small linear bracts; the corolla is two-lipped and reddish to purplish, the tube short and gibbous at the base. The paired ovaries are largely free, and the fruit develops into red, ellipsoid berries which are partly fused at the base, a feature aiding recognition of the species.

Lonicera webbiana belongs to Caprifoliaceae and to the large, taxonomically complex section Isoxylosteum (the bush honeysuckles); it has at times been confused with related Himalayan species such as L. quinquelocularis and L. angustifolia. The nectar-bearing flowers attract long-tongued bees and other pollinators, while the conspicuous red berries are dispersed by birds. Widespread and locally frequent across an extensive range, the species is of least conservation concern and is a characteristic understorey shrub of Himalayan fir and spruce forests.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan, Rehder revision of Lonicera, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal

Didymocarpinae

Loxostigma kurzii

by GP Jürgens

(C.B.Clarke) B.L.Burtt.

Bhutan2012 997
Bhutan Trithangebe 900m, October
Bhutan2012 998
Bhutan Trithangebe 900m, October

Description

Loxostigma kurzii is an epiphytic or lithophytic gesneriad of the eastern Himalaya and the Sino-Himalayan borderlands, recorded by GBIF (about 165 occurrences) from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. It inhabits the humid subtropical and warm-temperate forest belt, growing on mossy tree trunks, shaded cliffs and dripping rock faces in deep shade and high humidity. The illustrated plant was found in Bhutan at Trithangebe at about 900 m in October, a low, frost-free montane forest locality typical of the species, which descends well below the conifer zone into the broadleaved evergreen forests of the foothills.

The plant is a soft, somewhat fleshy herb with pendulous or ascending, often rooting stems clothed in soft hairs. The leaves are opposite, those of a pair frequently unequal, ovate to elliptic, with a crenate-serrate margin and a pubescent surface. The flowers are solitary or few in the leaf axils, each on a slender pedicel; the calyx is five-parted, and the corolla is large, tubular-funnelform and yellow, often marked within with purplish lines and slightly two-lipped at the mouth. There are four didynamous stamens with coherent anthers, and a superior ovary bearing the obliquely placed stigma from which the genus takes its name (Loxostigma). The fruit is a long, slender, twisted capsule splitting to release many minute seeds.

The taxon is sometimes treated as Briggsia kurzii, reflecting past uncertainty over generic limits within the didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae; molecular work has placed Loxostigma as a distinct lineage near Briggsia. As a forest epiphyte dependent on undisturbed, humid woodland it is sensitive to deforestation, though it remains locally frequent and is not formally assessed as threatened.

Author: (C.B.Clarke) B.L.Burtt. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Weber and Burtt's classification of the Gesneriaceae

Rubiaceae

Luculia grandifolia

by G & P Jürgens

Ghose

Nepal 95 346 P619 ergebnis
Nepal Tiblung 2810m, October

Description

Luculia grandifolia is a rare and poorly known shrub or small tree endemic to the eastern Himalayas, recorded from Bhutan, northeast India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), and central-eastern Nepal. Only 30 occurrences are documented on GBIF, making it one of the least collected species in the genus. It grows in moist, evergreen montane forests and along shaded ravines at elevations of 2,000–3,200 m, where it is associated with Rhododendron, Magnolia, and Lithocarpus in the upper warm-temperate to lower cloud-forest zone. The species favours humid, sheltered microsites on steep slopes with deep humus.
Luculia grandifolia is a semi-evergreen to evergreen shrub or small tree, 2–5 m tall, with stout, terete branches. The leaves are the largest in the genus, opposite, broadly elliptic to obovate, 15–30 cm long and 8–15 cm wide, coriaceous, with entire margins and prominent venation beneath; petioles are stout, 2–4 cm long. Stipules are interpetiolar, triangular, and caducous. The inflorescence is a terminal, dense, corymbose cyme bearing numerous fragrant flowers. Each flower has a salverform corolla, 2.5–3.5 cm long, with five spreading, rounded lobes; the colour ranges from white to pale pink. The calyx is five-lobed, with lobes often tinged reddish. The fruit is a septicidal capsule containing numerous small, winged seeds.
Luculia is a small genus of approximately five species restricted to the Sino-Himalayan region, all prized for their showy, sweetly fragrant flowers. Luculia grandifolia is distinguished from the more widely cultivated L. gratissima by its significantly larger leaves and more robust overall habit. The photographed specimen from Tiblung in Nepal at 2,810 m in October represents a late-season flowering event, consistent with the autumnal blooming period reported for the genus. Given its limited distribution, small population sizes, and dependence on undisturbed montane forest, L. grandifolia is of considerable conservation interest and would likely qualify as Vulnerable under IUCN criteria if formally assessed.

Author: Ghose · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Press et al.: Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal (2000), Springate et al. (2015)

Rubiaceae

Luculia gratissima

by G & P Jürgens

Sweet

Bhutan2012 418
Bhutan Tserang 1300m, September
Bhutan2012 1341
Bhutan Sandrup 1500m, September
Nepal 95 346 P619 ergebnis
Nepal Tibling 2200m October

Description

Luculia gratissima is a Himalayan and southwest Chinese shrub or small tree ranging from Nepal through Bhutan and northeast India into southern China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. GBIF records some 404 occurrences, including many cultivated specimens in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. It inhabits subtropical to warm-temperate forest, forest margins, open hillsides and stream banks, generally between about 1000 and 2500 m. The photographed plants come from Bhutan at Tserang (1300 m) and Sandrup (1500 m) in September and from Tibling in Nepal at about 2200 m in October, the autumn flowering period typical of this fragrant species.

The species is an erect, branched shrub or small tree with terete, glabrescent branchlets. The leaves are opposite, large, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with prominent pinnate venation and interpetiolar stipules. The flowers are borne in large terminal corymbose cymes and are showy and sweetly scented; each has a slender, elongate corolla tube opening into five spreading pink lobes, with small paired scales at the throat and exserted anthers. The fruit is an obovoid, ribbed, two-valved capsule that splits to release numerous small winged seeds adapted to wind dispersal.

Luculia gratissima Sweet is prized horticulturally for its fragrant pink autumn flowers and is widely grown in mild and subtropical gardens, which accounts for its many extralimital GBIF records. Within its native Himalayan and Indo-Chinese range it is widespread and not considered threatened. The genus Luculia, with its long-tubed scented flowers and winged capsular seeds, is of phylogenetic interest as an early-diverging lineage within the Rubiaceae.

Author: Sweet · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, taxonomic revisions of Luculia (Rubiaceae)

Onagraceae

Ludwigia octovalvis

by GP Jürgens

(Jacq.) P.H.Raven

Nepal 95 27 P42 ergebnis
Nepal Darondi-Khola 630m Octobre

Description

Ludwigia octovalvis (Jacq.) P.H.Raven is a pantropical wetland herb or subshrub of the willowherb family, one of the most widespread members of the genus. GBIF documents over 37,000 records across the tropics and warm temperate zones — the Americas (USA, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Cuba, Puerto Rico), Africa and the western Indian Ocean (South Africa, Madagascar, Réunion), Australia, and tropical and subtropical Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia). In the Himalayan foothills it occupies marshes, ditches, paddy margins, riverbanks and other seasonally wet ground at low elevations, as for the photographed plant from Nepal, Darondi-Khola, 630 m, in October.

The plant is an erect, much-branched annual or short-lived perennial 0.5–2 m tall with terete to weakly four-angled, often reddish stems that are pubescent above. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, entire, acuminate and shortly petiolate. Flowers are solitary in the upper leaf axils, 4-merous, with four bright yellow, obovate petals and four green sepals; the inferior, narrowly cylindric ovary is conspicuous. The fruit is a slender, ribbed, octovalved (eight-grooved) capsule — the source of the epithet — splitting to release numerous small seeds embedded in the dry pith, well suited to water and gravity dispersal.

Ludwigia is taxonomically complex, and L. octovalvis is a variable aggregate within which several subspecies and forms have been recognised. Its broad pantropical range, weediness in rice agriculture and ready colonisation of disturbed wet ground make it ecologically successful and locally a useful medicinal plant. It is not of conservation concern.

Author: (Jacq.) P.H.Raven · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Raven: Monograph of the genus Jussiaea / Ludwigia (Reinwardtia)

Ericaceae

Lyonia ovalifolia

by GP Jürgens

(Wall.) Drude

Nepal 97 517 P1015
Nepal Chinchilla 1950m May
Nepal 2001 521 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Mulabari 1360m, May

Description

Lyonia ovalifolia is a widespread Sino-Himalayan and East Asian shrub or small tree distributed from China, Japan and Taiwan through Nepal, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand and Indochina, with a large GBIF dataset of over 13000 records. It grows on open hillsides, forest margins, thickets and in pine and oak forest understorey, typically between about 1000 and 3000 m. The illustrated plants from Chinchilla at 1950 m and Mulabari in Gorkha at 1360 m in Nepal, both flowering in May, are typical of its subtropical to temperate montane habitats, where it is a common component of the secondary scrub and open forest of the Himalayan midlands.

It is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub or small tree with reddish-brown, often somewhat zigzag young branchlets. The leaves are alternate, ovate to ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, with an entire margin, an acuminate apex and a rounded to subcordate base, with pinnate venation. The flowers are borne in axillary racemes along the shoots, each with a small five-lobed calyx and an urceolate (urn-shaped) white corolla with five short recurved lobes, ten included stamens and a superior ovary. The fruit is a small, ovoid, woody, five-valved loculicidal capsule with a persistent thickened placental axis, releasing numerous minute seeds.

Lyonia belongs to the subfamily Vaccinioideae of the Ericaceae and, in common with many members of that family, contains grayanotoxin-type diterpenes, making the foliage toxic to livestock; the plant has local uses as an insecticide and in folk medicine. The urn-shaped flowers are pollinated by bees and other insects, and the tiny seeds are wind-dispersed from the dehiscing capsules. As an abundant and ecologically tolerant species across a vast range, L. ovalifolia is of least conservation concern.

Author: (Wall.) Drude · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 14, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Judd Revision of Lyonia (Ericaceae) monograph