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.

Primulaceae

Primula dickieana

by GP Jürgens

G.Watt

Sikkim2011 40
Sikkim Vista-valley 3700m, June
Sikkim2011 41
Sikkim Vista-valley 3700m, June
Sikkim2004 388 P666
Sikkim Lachung 3100m, May
Sikkim 2006 357 ergebnis
India West-Bengal Tamrong 2750m, May

Description

Primula dickieana is an eastern Himalayan primrose ranging through China, Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bhutan, with about 202 GBIF records concentrated in the Sikkim–Bhutan sector. It is a plant of moist alpine meadows, damp turf and seepage slopes, typically between roughly 2700 and 4500 m. The cited collections span this gradient, from Sikkim's Vista valley at 3700 m and Lachung at 3100 m to Tamrong in West Bengal at 2750 m, flowering in May and June as snowmelt saturates the high pastures. It thrives where cool, humus-rich soils remain reliably wet through the early growing season.

The species is a small, tufted, perennial herb forming a basal rosette of leaves that are oblanceolate to spathulate, narrowed to a winged petiole, with crenate to entire margins and an efarinose (mealless) surface. A single slender scape bears a solitary terminal flower, or occasionally a few, the corolla rotate and showy in proportion to the plant. Flower colour is notably variable, ranging from yellow through cream, pink and purple to nearly white, with a tubular calyx and a corolla limb of broad, often emarginate lobes. The fruit is a small capsule enclosed within the persistent calyx, dehiscing to release numerous minute seeds.

Within Primula, the species is placed in section Yunnanensis (formerly allied to section Dickieana), a group of single-flowered alpine primulas, and its remarkable colour polymorphism has long interested monographers. Pollination is effected by alpine insects visiting the open corolla. The species is locally common within its narrow alpine band but, like many Sino-Himalayan primulas, is potentially vulnerable to upslope habitat compression under a warming climate and to trampling and grazing in accessible high pastures.

Author: G.Watt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China (Primulaceae), Richards Primula (monograph)

Primulaceae

Primula drummondiana

by G & P Jürgens

Craib

Nepal 99 472 ergebnis
West-Nepal Churta-Khola 3250m, June

Description

Primula drummondiana is a narrowly distributed Himalayan primrose confined to the central and western Himalaya, with GBIF records from India, Nepal and Bhutan totalling only about 37 collections, reflecting both its restricted range and limited herbarium representation. It grows on damp alpine and subalpine slopes, moist rock ledges, snow-melt flushes and grassy stream margins, generally between 3000 and 4000 m. The plant photographed at Churta-Khola in west Nepal at 3250 m in June, flowering soon after snowmelt, illustrates its dependence on cool, moisture-retentive ground in the brief Himalayan growing season.

It is a small rosette-forming perennial herb. The leaves are obovate to oblong-spathulate, narrowed to a winged petiole, with a crenate-dentate margin and frequently a farinose (mealy white) coating on the undersurface, as is characteristic of many farinose-section primulas. The flowers are borne in a terminal umbel on a slender scape overtopping the foliage; the corolla is salver-shaped with a narrow tube and spreading, notched lobes, typically violet to pinkish-purple with a contrasting yellow or whitish eye. Plants are heterostylous, producing pin and thrum morphs, and the fruit is a small capsule dehiscing to release numerous minute seeds.

The genus Primula reaches its greatest diversity in the Sino-Himalayan mountains, and P. drummondiana belongs to the farinose-leaved alliance whose members are taxonomically intricate and often distinguished by subtle leaf, farina and corolla characters. Heterostyly enforces outcrossing in these alpine populations. Its small known range and few documented sites mean the species merits conservation attention, as such restricted-range alpine primulas are particularly sensitive to warming and grazing pressure on high pastures.

Author: Craib · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Smith & Fletcher revision of Primula, The Genus Primula (Richards)

Primulaceae

Primula elongata

by GP Jürgens

G.Watt

Sikkim2011 254
Sikkim Lada-La 3800m, June
Bh2008 580 P870
Bhutan Chele-La 3900m April
Bh2008 581 G871
Bhutan Chele-La 3900m April

Description

Primula elongata is a high-alpine primrose of the eastern Himalaya, recorded from Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Nepal and southern China, with GBIF holding around 107 occurrences across this range. It inhabits damp alpine turf, open hillsides, streamsides and the margins of rhododendron scrub in the subalpine to alpine zones, typically between about 3500 and 4300 m. The collections illustrated here, from Lada-La in Sikkim at 3800 m in June and from the Chele-La in western Bhutan at 3900 m in April, are characteristic of its preference for cool, moist, snow-fed slopes that flush green soon after snowmelt.

It is a small, herbaceous perennial forming basal rosettes of oblong to spathulate leaves that are gradually narrowed into a winged petiole, with the lamina often finely toothed and bearing a thin covering of farina (mealy powder) on the undersurface. From the rosette arises a slender, erect scape carrying a terminal umbel of several flowers. The corolla is funnel- to salver-shaped, in shades of violet, pink-purple or lilac with a contrasting yellow or whitish eye, and the species is heterostylous (pin and thrum forms). The fruit is a small capsule shorter than or equalling the persistent calyx, releasing numerous angular seeds.

Primula elongata belongs to a complex group of small farinose Himalayan primulas, and its segregation from allied taxa rests on leaf shape, farina distribution and capsule proportions. Restricted to high-elevation pastures, the species is potentially sensitive to changes in snow regime and to heavy grazing pressure, although across its broad eastern-Himalayan range it is not presently considered threatened.

Author: G.Watt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Primula (J. Richards monograph)

Primulaceae

Primula erosa

by G & P Jürgens

(Wall. ex. Duby) Regel

Nepal 99 381 ergebnis
West-Nepal Linji-Khola 3200m, June
Nepal 99 394 ergebnis
West-Nepal Sallibagar-Khola 3100m, June

Description

Primula erosa (Wall. ex Duby) Regel is a Himalayan primrose with a comparatively narrow range, recorded only from India and Nepal, with about 30 georeferenced occurrences in GBIF, reflecting its restricted and localised distribution. It grows in moist, shaded situations such as forest floors, damp banks, mossy rocks and the margins of streams in the temperate to subalpine belt, broadly between about 2500 and 3500 m. The illustrated plants were gathered in West Nepal along the Linji-Khola at 3200 m and the Sallibagar-Khola at 3100 m, both in June, in the cool, humid gorge habitats favoured by this spring-flowering herb.

The plant is a low, rosette-forming perennial growing from a short rhizome with fibrous roots. The leaves form a basal rosette and are oblong to obovate, the margin characteristically erose to crenate-dentate (the epithet erosa) and the blade often farinose or mealy on the lower surface, tapering into a winged petiole. The flowers are borne in a terminal umbel atop a slender, erect scape; the corolla is typically pink to rose-purple with a yellowish eye, the limb of five notched lobes spreading from a slender tube above a campanulate calyx. Plants are heterostylous, with pin and thrum forms. The fruit is a small capsule releasing numerous seeds.

Within the vast genus Primula, this species belongs among the farinose Himalayan primroses and is allied to other small, mealy-leaved montane taxa. Its mealy farina and heterostylous breeding system are characteristic adaptations promoting outcrossing in cool, humid environments. Owing to its limited distribution and dependence on undisturbed moist forest habitat, the species merits monitoring, although no formal conservation assessment has been published.

Author: (Wall. ex. Duby) Regel · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of British India, Richards Primula monograph, Smith & Fletcher revision of Asiatic Primula

Primulaceae

Primula filipes

by G & P Jürgens

G.Watt

Bhutan2014 1057
Bhutan Takthsang 2900m, May
Bhutan2014 1060
Bhutan Takthsang 2900m, May

Description

Primula filipes is a slender, delicate primrose of the eastern Himalayas, distributed across Bhutan, Sikkim and adjacent northeast India, eastern Nepal, northern Myanmar and southwest China (Xizang, Yunnan). It is a plant of cool, humid montane forest, favouring mossy banks, shaded streamsides and damp rock ledges within mixed broad-leaved and conifer woodland. The species typically occurs between roughly 2,500 and 3,600 m; the population photographed near the cliffside monastery of Taktshang (Tiger's Nest) in Bhutan at about 2,900 m in May is characteristic of its preferred shaded, moist forest understorey.

The plant is a small perennial herb forming a loose rosette of thin, ovate to oblong-elliptic leaves that are crenate-dentate at the margin and gradually narrowed into a slender, winged petiole, the lamina often farinose beneath. From the rosette arises a filiform, erect scape, frequently efarinose, terminating in a lax umbel of few flowers. The flowers are small, with a campanulate calyx and a pale to deep purple-violet corolla bearing a yellow eye and a notched, spreading limb; the capsule is globose and shorter than or subequal to the persistent calyx.

Primula filipes belongs to section Petiolares, a large and taxonomically intricate Himalayan group characterised by farinose, rosette-forming herbs of moist forest habitats. The species was described by the botanist George Watt from Himalayan material. As a narrowly montane forest endemic dependent on undisturbed humid woodland, it is sensitive to deforestation and trampling at popular pilgrimage sites, though it remains locally frequent within suitable habitat.

Author: G.Watt · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, Flora of China Vol. 15, GBIF, Richards: Primula (2003)

Primulaceae

Primula gambeliana

by GP Jürgens

G.Watt

BhutanPG2011 268
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4000m June

Description

Primula gambeliana G.Watt is an eastern Himalayan alpine primula recorded from India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal, Bhutan and south-western China, with about 66 georeferenced occurrences in GBIF. It grows on cool, humus-rich and mossy ground, on shaded rock ledges, beneath dwarf rhododendron and along the upper forest edge into the lower alpine zone, generally between roughly 3000 and 4300 m. The collection from Jule-Tso at 4000 m in June reflects its preference for damp, sheltered high-altitude sites flushed by snowmelt early in the growing season.

It is a tufted perennial herb forming a rosette from a short rhizome. The leaves are obovate to spatulate, abruptly contracted into a broadly winged petiole, with an irregularly toothed margin and an efarinose, somewhat fleshy texture. The slender scape rises above the foliage bearing an umbel of several nodding, funnel-shaped flowers; the corolla is rose-purple to violet with a paler or yellowish throat, the lobes spreading and emarginate, and the calyx is campanulate and divided to about the middle. The flowers are heterostylous, and the fruit is a capsule about equalling the calyx that releases numerous small seeds.

P. gambeliana belongs to section Petiolares, a large and taxonomically complex eastern-Himalayan group of woodland and alpine primulas distinguished by their winged petioles and early flowering. Within this section it is recognised by its leaf form and flower colour. As a localised petiolarid of cool, moist high-elevation habitat it depends on intact moss and humus layers; it carries no formal threat status but is potentially sensitive to habitat disturbance.

Author: G.Watt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Smith & Fletcher monograph of Primula

Primulaceae

Primula glabra

by GP Jürgens

Klatt

Bhutan2014 920
Bhutan Chele-La 4000m, May
Bhutan2014 1014
Bhutan Chele-La 4000m, May
Bh2008 570 P857
Bhutan Chele-La, 3950m June

Description

Primula glabra is a dwarf alpine primrose of the eastern Himalaya, distributed through China (south-eastern Tibet), Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar, with GBIF logging 196 occurrences across this Sino-Himalayan zone. It is a plant of high alpine turf, moist meadows, rocky slopes, snowmelt flushes and damp gravelly ground above the treeline, broadly between 3800 and 4500 m. The photographed plants from the Chele-La pass in western Bhutan, at 3950-4000 m flowering in May and June, exemplify its preference for cold, open, snow-influenced alpine sites where it blooms among rocks and short turf as the snow melts in early summer.

The species is a small, glabrous (hence the epithet), tufted perennial herb, lacking the farinose (mealy) coating found in many alpine primulas. The leaves form a basal rosette and are oblanceolate to spathulate, entire to finely toothed, narrowing into an indistinct petiole. Flowers are borne in a compact terminal umbel atop a short scape, or sometimes nearly sessile among the leaves. Each flower has a tubular calyx and a salverform corolla, typically pink to purplish or violet with a contrasting paler or yellowish eye, the limb spreading into five notched lobes. The species is heterostylous, producing pin and thrum flowers. The fruit is a small capsule dehiscing to release numerous minute seeds.

Described by Klatt, the species belongs to the vast genus Primula, within the alpine sections (allied to section Minutissimae or related dwarf cushion groups) that radiated extensively across the high Sino-Himalaya. Its heterostylous breeding system promotes outcrossing by long-tongued alpine insects. As a specialist of high, snow-fed alpine habitats it is potentially vulnerable to climatic warming and upslope habitat compression, though its broad regional range currently buffers it; it remains formally unassessed.

Author: Klatt · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Primula in Cultivation and the Wild (Richards)

Primulaceae

Primula glandulifera 

by G & P Jürgens

Balf.f. & W.W.Sm.

Nepal 99 669 ergebnis
West-Nepal, Kagmara-La 4900m, July

Description

Primula glandulifera is a high-alpine primrose of the western Himalaya, known from Nepal and India, with GBIF recording 31 occurrences. It inhabits damp alpine turf, moist gravelly slopes, streamsides and the margins of late snowbeds well above the treeline. The photographed plant grows on the Kagmara La in West Nepal at about 4900 m, flowering in July, an exacting high-elevation setting where short summers, intense radiation and cold, wet substrates govern plant life.

The species is a small perennial herb forming a basal rosette of leaves, often glandular as the epithet glandulifera indicates, the lamina oblong to spathulate and frequently bearing farina or glandular hairs. The flowering scape is slender, bearing one to several flowers in a terminal umbel above a whorl of bracts. Each flower has a tubular calyx and a salverform corolla, typically violet to purple with a contrasting eye, the limb of five notched lobes; the species is heterostylous, and the fruit is a small capsule.

The taxon is accepted and was described by Balfour and W.W. Smith, prolific authors on Asiatic Primula. It belongs to one of the genus's many Himalayan sections, a group whose species boundaries rest on farina, indumentum and floral detail. As a narrow-range, very high-altitude orophyte it is biogeographically significant and potentially sensitive to climate-driven upward shifts of the alpine zone, meriting monitoring of its restricted populations.

Author: Balf.f. & W.W.Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Richards' monograph Primula, Smith & Fletcher's studies of Asiatic Primula

Primulaceae

Primula glomerata

by GP Jürgens

Pax

Nepal 95 113 P200 ergebnis
Nepal Rupina-La 3100m, September

Description

Primula glomerata Pax is an alpine primrose of the central and eastern Himalaya, recorded from Nepal, India, Bhutan and southern China, with roughly 207 GBIF occurrences; isolated points in Canada and Japan reflect botanic-garden or cultivated material. It inhabits open grassy slopes, moist alpine meadows and the margins of streams and seepages, broadly between about 3000 and 4500 m. The photographed plant from the Rupina-La in central Nepal at approximately 3100 m, in September, illustrates its late-season flowering on cool, humid montane turf where it forms scattered colonies among short alpine herbage.

The species is a perennial herb with a short rootstock bearing a rosette of leaves that are oblong to spathulate, crenate to denticulate at the margin, and frequently mealy or efarinose beneath. From the rosette rises a slender scape terminating in a dense, capitate or glomerate inflorescence, whence the epithet, of small bluish-purple to violet flowers; each has a tubular calyx and a salverform corolla with an annulate throat and notched lobes. The fruit is a small capsule dehiscing to release numerous minute seeds.

Primula glomerata is classified within Primula section Capitatae (subgenus Aleuritia), a group of farinose, head-flowered Sino-Himalayan primulas. Its capitate inflorescence and farina distinguish it from related taxa such as P. capitata. Locally frequent across its alpine range and not currently of conservation concern, it remains sensitive to grazing pressure and habitat disturbance at high elevations.

Author: Pax · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Richards monograph Primula (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

Primulaceae

Primula gracilipes

by GP Jürgens

Craib

Bh2008 240 G378
Bhutan Tumching-La, 3600m April
Bh2008 241 P379
Bhutan Tumching-La, 3600m April
Sikkim2004 132 G230
Sikkim/India Singalila 3200m April

Description

Primula gracilipes is a spring-flowering primrose of the eastern Himalaya, distributed through Nepal, Sikkim and the rest of India, Bhutan and adjacent China, with additional material in European collections such as Austria and Japan. Its roughly 198 georeferenced records trace a band along the moist eastern Himalayan ranges. It grows on damp, mossy banks, in open subalpine forest, on rock ledges and along stream margins at roughly 2700-4000 m, flowering very early as the snow recedes. The collections cited above, from Tumching-La in Bhutan at 3600 m and from Singalila on the Sikkim-India border at 3200 m, both in April, are typical of its early-season alpine display.

It is a small rosette-forming perennial with leaves that are at first short and enlarge after flowering, the blades obovate to oblong, crenate to dentate and somewhat farinose or efarinose. The flowers appear almost stemless among the developing leaves on slender pedicels (gracilipes meaning "slender-stalked"), arising from a much-shortened scape so that the inflorescence is nearly sessile. Each flower has a tubular calyx and a flat, rose-pink to mauve-purple corolla with a yellow or greenish eye and notched lobes; the species is heterostylous, with pin and thrum flowers. The fruit is a small capsule shorter than or about equalling the calyx.

Primula gracilipes belongs to section Petiolares, a large and taxonomically difficult eastern Himalayan group characterised by early flowering on a short scape and rosettes that expand after anthesis. Heterostyly promotes outcrossing by long-tongued spring insects active at the snowline. It is prized in alpine horticulture but can be challenging in cultivation. While not formally assessed, its early-flowering habit and dependence on cool, humid subalpine sites make it sensitive to changes in snow cover and montane climate.

Author: Craib · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, The Genus Primula (Richards) monograph