Tag:

Sikkim

Flowers of Sikkim — 350 species from the Sikkim Himalaya in northeast India, a compact yet botanically extraordinary region that climbs from subtropical valleys to the alpine zone beneath Kangchenjunga. Sikkim is a classic centre of Himalayan plant diversity, celebrated for its rhododendrons, primulas, orchids and gentians. Each entry provides a botanical description, distribution, habitat and flowering season with the original field photograph.

Papaveraceae

Meconopsis grandis

by GP Jürgens

Prain

Nepal 97 187 G369
Nepal Tayla-La 4050m April
Nepal 99 107 ergebnis
West-Nepal South of Rara-Lake 3600m, June
Nepal 99 280 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalomura 4100m, June
Nepal 99 281 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalomura 4100m, June

Description

Meconopsis grandis is a high-altitude perennial of the eastern and central Himalaya, distributed across Nepal, northern India, Sikkim, Bhutan and adjacent southern Tibet (China), with cultivated and naturalised records reflected in the European data (United Kingdom, Belgium, Norway, Sweden). GBIF documents some 266 occurrences, a figure inflated by its long horticultural history as one of the celebrated "blue poppies." In its native range it grows in moist alpine meadows, open scrub, the margins of Rhododendron thickets and along streamsides on humus-rich, well-drained acidic soils. The collections illustrated span the snowmelt belt between roughly 3600 and 4100 m, from Tayla-La in central Nepal at 4050 m in April to the slopes south of Rara Lake at 3600 m and Kalomura at 4100 m in June, where it flowers as the monsoon advances.

It forms a stout, deciduous perennial from a thick rootstock, with a basal rosette of oblanceolate to elliptic leaves clothed in rust-coloured to fulvous bristly hairs, the blades narrowing into a winged petiole and often shallowly toothed. The flowering scape is erect, bristly and bears one to several large nodding flowers, each typically with four (sometimes more) broad, satiny, overlapping petals of intense azure to violet-blue, occasionally purplish. Numerous golden stamens surround a stout ovary crowned by a short, well-defined style and capitate to clavate stigma. The fruit is an elongate, ellipsoid to narrowly ovoid capsule, bristly-hairy, dehiscing by short apical valves to release small seeds.

Meconopsis grandis belongs to a taxonomically intricate complex of perennial blue poppies and has historically hybridised in cultivation, giving rise to the widely grown Meconopsis × sheldonii. Variation in flower colour, leaf indumentum and monocarpic versus polycarpic habit has prompted recognition of several subspecies and forms by different authors. Ecologically it is pollinated chiefly by bumblebees attracted to its conspicuous corolla. Though not formally assessed as threatened across its wide range, populations are localised and sensitive to grazing pressure, trampling and the warming of alpine habitats, making it a flagship species for Himalayan montane conservation.

Author: Prain · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Christopher Grey-Wilson – The Genus Meconopsis

Papaveraceae

Meconopsis napaulensis

by GP Jürgens

DC.

BhutanPG2011 271
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4100m June

Description

Meconopsis napaulensis DC. is a monocarpic Himalayan poppy distributed through Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, north-east India and adjacent south-west China, growing in open subalpine and alpine habitats such as moist meadows, scrub margins, rocky slopes and forest clearings. It favours cool, humid, well-drained sites between roughly 3000 and 4200 m. The photographed plant from Jule-Tso in Bhutan at 4100 m, flowering in June, sits near the upper end of this range, where late snowmelt and summer moisture sustain the brief but spectacular flowering of these high-mountain poppies on open, sunlit slopes.

The plant is a giant, monocarpic herb that builds up over several years as a large basal rosette of pinnately lobed to deeply divided, bristly leaves before producing a single tall, leafy, branched flowering stem in its final season. The whole plant is clothed in stiff, often rust-coloured bristles. The flowers are large, nodding and saucer-shaped, with four (sometimes more) silky petals ranging from blue and purple to red, pink or yellow in different populations, surrounding a central boss of numerous stamens and a prominent ovary. The fruit is an elongate, bristly capsule dehiscing by apical valves to shed abundant minute seeds, after which the entire plant dies.

Meconopsis napaulensis has long been a taxonomically confused name, applied to a range of red- and purple-flowered big rosette poppies; modern revisions have segregated several distinct species (such as M. paniculata and M. wilsonii) formerly lumped under it. Pollinated chiefly by bumblebees, these poppies are emblematic of the Himalayan alpine flora. While not formally assessed as threatened, their monocarpic life cycle, narrow alpine niche and horticultural appeal make wild populations vulnerable to over-collection and climate-driven habitat change.

Author: DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, The Genus Meconopsis (Grey-Wilson), Flora of China (Papaveraceae)

Papaveraceae

Meconopsis paniculata

by G & P Jürgens

(D. Don) Prain

Sikkim2011 89
Sikkim Chopta-valley 4200m, June
BhutanPG2011 321
Bhutan
Sikkim2011 252
Sikkim Yumthang 3700m, June
Nepal 97 136 G252
Nepal Mewa-Khola 3100m April

Description

Meconopsis paniculata is a stately Himalayan poppy distributed through Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim and Darjeeling, Bhutan and southern Tibet (China), with cultivated records in Britain and Canada; GBIF documents about 440 occurrences. It grows in the upper temperate to subalpine and lower alpine zone, on open grassy slopes, forest clearings, streamsides and shrubby hillsides, as recorded in the Chopta valley (4200 m) and at Yumthang (3700 m) in Sikkim and at Mewa-Khola (3100 m) in Nepal. Spanning roughly 3000-4200 m, it flowers from spring into early summer (April-June), often forming conspicuous stands on damp, humus-rich slopes.

It is a robust monocarpic herb, forming in its first years a large basal rosette before producing a single tall, branched flowering stem up to 1.5-2 m. The whole plant is densely clothed in golden to rusty, spreading bristly hairs. The basal leaves are large, oblong-lanceolate and pinnately lobed or deeply cut, narrowing into a winged petiole. The inflorescence is an elongate, leafy panicle (the epithet "paniculata") of nodding, broadly cup-shaped flowers; the four (rarely more) petals are pale to clear yellow, surrounding a boss of numerous yellow stamens and a stout ovary crowned by a short style and lobed stigma. The fruit is an oblong, bristly capsule dehiscing by apical pores to shed many small seeds.

Described by Prain from D. Don's basionym, M. paniculata belongs to the monocarpic, bristly-fruited group of Meconopsis allied to M. napaulensis and M. wallichii, a complex whose taxonomy has long been debated owing to hybridisation and variable indumentum. As a monocarpic species it dies after a single flowering, relying entirely on abundant seed for regeneration. The flowers are visited by bumblebees foraging at altitude. Widespread across its range, it is not considered globally threatened, though seed collection and grazing can affect local populations.

Author: (D. Don) Prain · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Grey-Wilson's monograph of the genus Meconopsis

Papaveraceae

Meconopsis simplicifolia

by G & P Jürgens

(D. Don) Walp.

Sikkim2011 75
Sikkim2011 66
Sikkim Tanghu 3900m, June
Bh09 15 P27
Bh09 13 G13
Bhutan Chele-La,3200m June
Sikkim2004 433 G755
Sikkim2004 432 G754
Sikkim/India Yumthang 3600m May

Description

Meconopsis simplicifolia (D. Don) Walp. is a high-mountain perennial blue poppy of the central and eastern Himalaya, ranging through Nepal, Sikkim and northern India, Bhutan and southern Tibet (China), with cultivated records accounting for the United Kingdom entries in a GBIF dataset of roughly 267 occurrences. It inhabits alpine meadows, open turf, rocky slopes and the margins of Rhododendron scrub on moist, humus-rich, well-drained acidic soils, typically within the snowmelt-fed alpine zone. The illustrated collections cluster between about 3200 and 3900 m, from Tanghu in Sikkim at 3900 m and Chele-La in Bhutan at 3200 m in June to Yumthang on the Sikkim-India border at 3600 m in May, marking a late-spring to early-summer flowering as the snow retreats.

It forms a perennial herb with a basal rosette of simple, undivided leaves, oblanceolate to elliptic or narrowly lanceolate, entire to faintly toothed and clothed in soft, often fulvous to fawn-coloured bristly hairs, narrowing to a winged petiole; the simple, unlobed foliage gives the species its epithet. From the rosette arise one or several slender, bristly, leafless scapes, each bearing a solitary, nodding flower. The flowers have four (sometimes more) broad, silky, overlapping petals of clear sky-blue to violet or, in some forms, reddish-purple, surrounding a tuft of golden stamens and a stout ovary topped by a short, distinct style and capitate stigma. The fruit is an ellipsoid, bristly capsule opening by short apical valves.

Meconopsis simplicifolia is part of the perennial, scapose blue-poppy assemblage and is distinguished from allies such as M. grandis by its single-flowered scapes and entirely simple leaves; it is variable in flower colour and in whether it behaves as monocarpic or polycarpic. Pollinated chiefly by bumblebees, it is a celebrated ornamental long grown in cool temperate gardens. Across its range populations are localised and sensitive to grazing, trampling and the warming of alpine habitats, making it, like its relatives, a species of interest for Himalayan alpine conservation though not formally assessed as threatened.

Author: (D. Don) Walp. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Christopher Grey-Wilson – The Genus Meconopsis

Papaveraceae

Meconopsis wallichii var. fusco-purpurea

by GP Jürgens

Sikkim2003 156 G209
Sikkim Dzongri 3900m 08.2003
Sikkim2003 158 P211
Sikkim Dzongri 3900m, August

Description

Meconopsis wallichii var. fusco-purpurea is a dark-flowered variant of the tall Himalayan blue poppy complex of the eastern Himalaya, ranging through Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Although GBIF holds no occurrence records under this infraspecific name (the taxon being treated under the broader M. wallichii and the genus Meconopsis sensu lato), the species occupies open subalpine and lower alpine slopes, forest clearings and shrubberies, typically between 3000 and 4000 m. The photographs from Dzongri in Sikkim at about 3900 m in August document this purple-flowered form in its characteristic high-montane meadow habitat during the monsoon flowering season.

The plant is a tall, monocarpic herb that forms a basal rosette of deeply pinnatifid, bristly-hairy leaves over several years before producing a single robust, branched flowering stem up to a metre or more in height. The stems and foliage bear rusty to golden setose hairs. The large, nodding, saucer-shaped flowers are arranged in a leafy panicle; in this variety the petals are a deep dusky purple to wine-red rather than the sky-blue typical of the species, surrounding a boss of golden stamens. The ovary is bristly and develops into an elongate, several-valved capsule dehiscing at the apex to release numerous small seeds.

Taxonomically this purple form has been recognised at varietal rank within the variable M. wallichii, itself part of the difficult Sino-Himalayan genus Meconopsis where flower colour and indumentum vary clinally; many such names are now subsumed or transferred following modern revisions. The monocarpic life history, with a long vegetative phase and a single mass-flowering event, is characteristic of the group. As a striking ornamental, it is of horticultural interest, while wild populations depend on undisturbed subalpine slopes.

Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Grey-Wilson's monograph The Genus Meconopsis

Araliaceae

Merrilliopanax alpinus

by G & P Jürgens

(C.B.Clarke) C.B.Shang

Sikkim2011 387
Sikkim Lachung 3200m, June
Sikkim2011 389
Sikkim Lachung 3200m, June
Sikkim 2006 327 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tolung 2400m, May

Description

Merrilliopanax alpinus is a small tree or shrub of the eastern Himalaya and south-western China, recorded from Nepal, northern India, Bhutan and Yunnan, a comparatively narrow range reflected in only some 59 occurrence records. It inhabits moist, evergreen broad-leaved and mixed montane forest and forest margins, generally between about 2000 and 3500 m, often in shaded, humid ravines. The images here derive from Sikkim at Lachung (3200 m, June) and from the Tolung area of West Bengal (2400 m, May), localities typical of the rich, mist-bathed mid-montane forests where the genus reaches its diversity.

The plant is an evergreen with stout, sparingly branched stems bearing simple, leathery leaves clustered toward the branch tips. The leaves are large, ovate to elliptic, entire or shallowly toothed, glabrous and shining above and frequently rusty-tomentose beneath, on long petioles. The inflorescence is a terminal panicle of small umbels; the flowers are small, polygamous and greenish, with a reduced calyx, several petals and stamens, and an inferior ovary. The fruit is a small, globose to ellipsoid drupe crowned by the persistent styles.

Merrilliopanax is a small genus of the Araliaceae segregated from the broadly defined Schefflera/Aralia complex and is restricted to the Sino-Himalayan region; M. alpinus was described by C.B.Clarke and transferred to the genus by C.B.Shang. Its simple (rather than compound) leaves distinguish it from many relatives. The drupes are bird-dispersed, and the species is a localised but characteristic element of eastern Himalayan cloud forest. Its restricted range makes it of biogeographic interest and potentially sensitive to forest loss, though no formal threat assessment is widely established.

Author: (C.B.Clarke) C.B.Shang · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Shang revision of Merrilliopanax, Frodin & Govaerts World Checklist of Araliaceae

Caprifoliaceae

Morina longifolia

by GP Jürgens

Wall. ex DC.

Sikkim2003 372 G521
Sikkim Tista valley 3500m August
Nepal 99 84 ergebnis
West-Nepal Bhulbhule 3200m, June
Garw 2005 36 ergebnis ergebnis
India Garhwal Valley of flowers 3100m, September

Description

Morina longifolia, the Himalayan whorlflower, is native to the Himalaya across Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan, with naturalised and cultivated records in Europe and North America (Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United States) reflected among its roughly 125 GBIF occurrences. It grows on open alpine and subalpine slopes, in stony meadows, grassy clearings and among low scrub on well-drained soils above the forest. The cited localities, the Tista valley in Sikkim at 3500 m in August, Bhulbhule in western Nepal at 3200 m in June, and the Valley of Flowers in Garhwal at 3100 m in September, span its range of roughly 3000-4000 m, where it flowers through the summer monsoon.

It is a robust, erect perennial herb forming a basal rosette of long, narrow, linear-lanceolate leaves whose margins are conspicuously spiny-toothed, giving a thistle-like appearance, the whole plant aromatic when crushed. The flowering stem rises stoutly and bears the flowers in well-separated, spiny-bracted whorls (verticillasters) up the upper axis. Each flower has a tubular, curved, two-lipped corolla that opens white and ages through pink to deep crimson, so flowers of several colours appear together in one whorl. Two stamens are fertile, the slender style is exserted, and the inferior ovary develops into a small one-seeded achene enclosed within the persistent involucel.

The genus Morina, with its spiny leaves and whorled bicoloured flowers, has been placed variously in its own family Morinaceae or within Dipsacaceae, and is treated by current systems within an enlarged Caprifoliaceae; molecular work confirms its position near the teasels and valerians in the Dipsacales. The long-tubed flowers are pollinated by long-tongued insects, and the species is widely grown as an ornamental, accounting for its scattered occurrences far beyond its native range.

Author: Wall. ex DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan, Cannon revision of Morina, Bell Dipsacales phylogeny

Caprifoliaceae

Morina polyphylla

by G & P Jürgens

Wall. ex DC.

Nepal 99 354 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 3800m, June
Nepal 99 355 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 3800m, June
Sikkim2003 371 P520
Sikkim Lachen Tista valley 3600m August

Description

Morina polyphylla is a Himalayan high-altitude herb recorded from Nepal, northern India and Bhutan, with roughly 54 documented occurrences. It inhabits open subalpine to alpine meadows, rocky slopes and grazed pasture, generally between about 3300 and 4200 m. The collections illustrated here, from Kalmura in West Nepal at 3800 m in June and from the Tista valley above Lachen in Sikkim at 3600 m in August, span the early and late monsoon flowering periods and typify its preference for moist, well-drained turf and stony ground in full sun above the treeline.

It is a stout perennial forming a basal rosette of numerous narrowly oblong to lanceolate leaves whose margins are pinnately lobed and armed with stiff spinescent teeth, the texture rigid and the surfaces often shining. The erect flowering stem bears whorls of flowers subtended by spiny floral bracts arranged in interrupted verticillasters. Each flower has a tubular, oblique calyx and a slender-tubed, curved corolla that is two-lipped, typically pale to deep pink or whitish, the long tube adapted to long-tongued pollinators. There are usually two fertile stamens; the inferior ovary ripens into a single-seeded achene enclosed by the persistent involucel.

GBIF treats the name as a synonym, with Morina polyphylla retained as the accepted name; the species belongs to the Morinoideae, now placed within an expanded Caprifoliaceae. Its spiny, thistle-like architecture deters grazing in heavily pastured alpine zones, and the protandrous, long-tubed flowers favour cross-pollination by bumblebees and lepidopterans. The species remains widespread across its montane range with no recognised conservation threat.

Author: Wall. ex DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China Vol. 19, A Taxonomic Revision of the Morinaceae

Asteraceae

Myriactis nepalensis 

by G & P Jürgens

Less.

Garw 2005 77
India Garhwal Auli-Gaushon 3100m, October

Description

Myriactis nepalensis is an annual or short-lived perennial herb in the daisy family, widespread across the Himalayas from Pakistan through Nepal, India (Sikkim, Garhwal), and Bhutan to southwest China. It thrives in moist forest margins, shady banks, and disturbed ground at 1,500–3,500 m elevation.

The plant grows 15–60 cm tall with erect, branching stems. Leaves are alternate, ovate to broadly lanceolate, coarsely toothed, and softly hairy. The small flower heads (5–8 mm across) are borne in loose terminal clusters, with white ray florets surrounding yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Often overlooked due to its small flower heads, Myriactis nepalensis plays an important ecological role as a late-season nectar source for pollinators at high elevations.

Author: Less. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Nepal Checklist, GBIF

Tamaricaceae

Myricaria rosea

by G & P Jürgens

W.W. Sm.

Sikkim2011 227
Sikkim Yumthang-Chu 3600m, September
Sikkim2004 285 P498
Sikkim/India Dzongri 3900m May

Description

Myricaria rosea W.W.Sm. is a tamarisk-like shrub of the Tamaricaceae native to the eastern and central Himalaya and adjacent China. GBIF records, numbering 268 occurrences, place it in China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar. The species is a riparian specialist of high-altitude valleys, colonising gravel bars, glacial outwash, moraine and the sandy margins of mountain streams, generally between 3,300 and 4,300 m. The illustrated plants from the Yumthang-Chu in Sikkim at 3,600 m in September and from Dzongri at 3,900 m in May span its flowering and fruiting seasons in the alpine and subalpine riverine zone.

The plant is a low, much-branched, decumbent to erect shrub with slender, reddish-brown, flexible branchlets. The leaves are small, sessile, scale-like to narrowly lanceolate, glaucous and densely overlapping along the twigs, an adaptation to the dry, exposed habitat. The flowers are borne in dense, terminal, spike-like racemes; each has five rose-pink to purplish petals, a five-parted calyx, and ten stamens whose filaments are connate at the base into a tube, a key character separating Myricaria from the related Tamarix. The fruit is a narrowly conical capsule splitting into three valves to release numerous tiny seeds, each crowned with a tuft of long, basally awned hairs that aids wind and water dispersal.

Myricaria comprises a small group of Central Asian and Sino-Himalayan shrubs of disturbed, unstable riparian and glacial substrates, and M. rosea is one of the distinctly pink-flowered eastern Himalayan members. Ecologically these shrubs are important pioneer colonisers that stabilise braided river gravels and moraine, providing early successional cover; their dependence on natural flood and sediment regimes makes them sensitive to hydrological alteration of high mountain rivers.

Author: W.W. Sm. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 13, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2, Flora of Nepal, Zhang & Zhang: A taxonomic revision of Myricaria (Tamaricaceae)