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.

Asteraceae

Cirsium eriophoroides

by GP Jürgens

Petr.

Sikkim2011 257
Sikkim Lada-La 3800m, June
BhutanPG2011 284
Bhutan Jule-Tso, 4200m June
Sikkim2003 412 W574
Sikkim Zemu Valley 3400m August

Description

Cirsium eriophoroides is a robust alpine thistle of the eastern Himalaya and Sino-Tibetan mountains, recorded from China, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal, with about 234 GBIF occurrences. It grows in subalpine to alpine meadows, open grassy slopes, forest clearings and disturbed pasture, generally between about 3000 and 4500 m. The photographed plants come from Lada-La in Sikkim (3800 m, June), Jule-Tso in Bhutan (4200 m, June) and the Zemu Valley in Sikkim (3400 m, August), spanning the early and late high-Himalayan growing season.

The plant is a stout biennial or perennial herb with an erect, ridged, cobwebby-woolly stem reaching well over a metre. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid and conspicuously spiny along the margins, decurrent on the stem and white-tomentose beneath. The large capitula are solitary or few at the stem apex, subtended by leafy bracts and densely enveloped in long, white, arachnoid wool, the epithet "eriophoroides" likening this to the cottongrass Eriophorum. The involucral phyllaries are narrow and spine-tipped; the florets are tubular and purple to reddish, the fruit a smooth cypsela bearing a plumose pappus of feathery bristles.

Cirsium is a large genus of the tribe Cardueae, and C. eriophoroides represents the woolly-headed high-montane element well developed in the Sino-Himalaya. Its conspicuous capitula are visited by bumblebees and other long-tongued insects. Widespread and often associated with grazed ground, it is not regarded as threatened.

Author: Petr. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Compositae of the Sino-Himalaya (Cardueae studies)

Ranunculaceae

Clematis acutangula

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Bhutan2012 133
Bhutan Haar-Valley, 3100m September

Description

Clematis acutangula is an eastern Himalayan climber distributed through Bhutan, northern India, southern China and northern Myanmar, a comparatively restricted range reflected in the small number of GBIF records, about 61. It is a plant of temperate forest margins, scrub and thickets in the wetter montane ranges, scrambling over shrubs and into the lower canopy. The Bhutanese material photographed in the Haa (Haar) Valley at 3100 m in September documents the species in its upper-montane habitat, flowering at the close of the monsoon when many late-season Himalayan clematis come into bloom.

It is a woody to herbaceous climber whose stems are distinctly angular and sharply ridged, the feature from which the epithet acutangula derives. The leaves are opposite and compound, typically pinnate to biternate with ovate to lanceolate, toothed leaflets, the plant climbing by means of twining petioles and rachides. The flowers are nodding and campanulate, with four thick, recurved-tipped, petaloid sepals coloured yellowish to greenish-yellow, often tinged or dotted with purple; true petals are absent and the numerous stamens are enclosed within the bell. The fruit is a head of compressed achenes each bearing a long, persistent, plumose style that aids wind dispersal.

The species belongs to the autumn-flowering, yellow- to nodding-flowered assemblage of Asian Clematis allied to sect. Meclatis/Tubulosae groups, distinguished within the eastern Himalayan flora by its strongly angled stems and bell-shaped flowers. Its limited distribution and dependence on intact temperate forest scrub make it a characteristic but local element of the Bhutan-Sikkim montane flora; it is not formally assessed for conservation but its narrow range warrants attention.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Grey-Wilson's Clematis the Genus (monograph), Flora of British India

Campanulaceae

Codonopsis foetens

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Sikkim2003 425 G591
Sikkim Chopta Valley 4250m August

Description

Codonopsis foetens is an alpine herb of the eastern Himalaya, distributed across China, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal, with about 712 georeferenced records in GBIF. It occupies high-elevation meadows, alpine scrub, screes and rocky slopes, typically between roughly 3500 and 4800 m. The plant illustrated was photographed in Sikkim's Chopta Valley at 4250 m in August, during the monsoon flowering season, where it grows among dwarf rhododendron scrub and damp alpine turf in the upper subalpine to alpine zone.

The species is an erect to ascending perennial herb arising from a thickened root, with simple or sparingly branched stems bearing small, scattered, ovate to lanceolate leaves. The flowers are solitary and terminal, nodding, with a broadly campanulate corolla that is pale blue to greyish-blue or violet and conspicuously marked internally with darker veins or blotches. The five corolla lobes are short and the throat often bears coloured patterning; the fruit is a capsule subtended by the persistent calyx lobes and releasing numerous minute seeds at maturity.

Codonopsis (Campanulaceae) is well diversified in the Sino-Himalayan alpine flora, and as the epithet foetens indicates, this species emits a strong, unpleasant odour when the foliage is bruised, a trait shared with several relatives and thought to deter herbivores while attracting particular insect visitors. The pendent bell-shaped flowers are pollinated chiefly by bumblebees. Restricted to high alpine habitats, C. foetens is not formally assessed as threatened but is dependent on intact alpine vegetation and is potentially sensitive to grazing pressure and climate-driven shifts in the alpine belt.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Hong Monograph of the Genus Codonopsis

Campanulaceae

Codonopsis gracilis

by G & P Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Sikkim 2006 485 ergebnis
Sikkim 2006 484 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Ruigi-Chu 1850m, May

Description

Codonopsis gracilis is a slender twining herb distributed across the eastern Himalaya and into mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. Its range extends from Nepal, Bhutan, and northeastern India (Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya) through Myanmar and Vietnam to southern China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou). GBIF records 72 occurrences across these countries. The species grows in margins of subtropical and warm temperate broadleaved forests, thickets, hedgerows, and along streams, at elevations of 1,200–2,800 m. The photograph from Ruigi-Chu in West Bengal at 1,850 m, taken in May, shows the species at a mid-elevation site in the Sikkim-Darjeeling region during the early monsoon flowering period.
The plant is a perennial twining herb arising from a slender, fusiform or cylindrical root. Stems are slender, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, extensively twining through surrounding vegetation, reaching 1–3 m. Leaves are alternate or opposite on lower stems, ovate to broadly ovate, 2–5 cm long, with crenate to serrate margins, sparsely hairy above, paler beneath. Flowers are solitary, axillary, pendulous on slender pedicels. The calyx lobes are five, lanceolate to ovate, spreading. The corolla is broadly campanulate, 15–25 mm long, pale blue to lilac with darker purple veins and markings inside, particularly prominent reticulate venation in the throat. Stamens five, free; the ovary is semi-inferior. The fruit is a broadly conical capsule, dehiscing by apical valves.
Codonopsis gracilis is distinguished from congeners by its relatively small, delicate habit and slender roots, lacking the thick, fleshy taproots prized in traditional medicine that characterize species such as C. pilosula and C. tangshen. The genus Codonopsis comprises approximately 40 species centred on the Sino-Himalayan region, and molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed its placement within Campanulaceae sensu lato. C. gracilis is not currently considered threatened and remains locally frequent in forest margins across its wide range.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Hong & Lammers: Campanulaceae in Flora of China Vol. 19, Grierson & Long: Flora of Bhutan Vol. 2

Campanulaceae

Codonopsis subsimplex

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Sikkim2003 439 P610 2
Sikkim Chopta Valley 4000m August
Sikkim2003 424 P590
Sikkim Chopta Valley 4250m August

Description

Codonopsis subsimplex is an alpine herb of the eastern Himalaya, distributed across Nepal, India (Sikkim), Bhutan and adjacent China, with about 101 georeferenced records in GBIF. It grows in high-elevation meadows, scrub margins, rock crevices and stony alpine slopes, typically within the belt between about 3500 and 4500 m. The plants illustrated were photographed in Sikkim's Chopta Valley at 4000 and 4250 m in August, at the height of the monsoon flowering season, where it occurs among dwarf shrubs and damp turf in the upper alpine zone.

The species is a slender perennial herb arising from a thickened, fleshy rootstock, with stems that are erect to weakly ascending and, as the epithet suggests, little branched. The leaves are small, alternate or scattered, ovate to lanceolate, and shortly petiolate to nearly sessile. The flowers are solitary and terminal, nodding on slender pedicels, with a broadly campanulate corolla typically pale bluish, greenish or purple-tinged and often marked internally with darker veining or coloured spots. The five corolla lobes are shallow; the fruit is a capsule crowned by the persistent calyx, dehiscing to release numerous small seeds.

Codonopsis (Campanulaceae) is a genus of the temperate and alpine Asian flora well represented in the Himalaya, several members of which are characterised by a distinctive foetid odour when bruised. Pollination is largely by bumblebees attracted to the pendent bell-shaped flowers. The fleshy roots of various Codonopsis species are valued in regional herbal medicine. C. subsimplex is restricted to high alpine habitats and, while not formally assessed as threatened, depends on intact alpine pasture and is sensitive to overgrazing and climatic warming.

Author: Hook.f. & Thomson · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Hong Monograph of the Genus Codonopsis

Campanulaceae

Codonopsis thalictrifolia

by GP Jürgens

Wall.

Sikkim2003 122 P163
Sikkim Dzongri 3950m, August
Sikkim2003 265 P364
Sikkim Dzongri 3950m, August
Sikkim2003 266 P367
Sikkim Dzongri 3950m, August

Description

Codonopsis thalictrifolia is a Sino-Himalayan alpine herb of the bellflower family, GBIF recording about 217 occurrences from Nepal, China, India and Bhutan. It is a plant of the upper subalpine and alpine zones, growing in open turf, among dwarf rhododendron scrub, on stony slopes, moraine and moist rock ledges generally between about 3500 and 4500 m. The population photographed at Dzongri in western Sikkim at 3950 m, flowering in August during the late monsoon, is characteristic of its occurrence in cool, humid, high-elevation meadow and shrub habitats where it blooms toward the end of the short alpine summer.

It is a slender, glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial herb arising from a fleshy rootstock, the stems erect to ascending and often weakly clambering through surrounding vegetation. The leaves are small and finely divided or pinnately lobed, recalling the foliage of a meadow-rue (Thalictrum), from which the epithet derives. The flowers are solitary and nodding on slender pedicels; the corolla is broadly campanulate, pale blue to greenish or violet-tinged and frequently marked within by darker veining, with five short lobes, five stamens and an inferior to half-inferior ovary. The fruit is a capsule dehiscing to release numerous small seeds.

Described by Wallich, C. thalictrifolia belongs to the genus Codonopsis (Campanulaceae), the bonnet-bellflowers, several of which emit the group's characteristic foetid odour when bruised. It is locally frequent and not regarded as threatened, though tied to intact alpine turf and scrub. Ecologically its nodding, bell-shaped flowers are adapted to pollination by bumblebees and other robust alpine insects, and it is valued horticulturally as a delicate plant of the high mountains.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, The Genus Codonopsis (Lammers/Hong monograph)

Campanulaceae

Codonopsis viridis

by GP Jürgens

Wall.

Bhutan2012 1191
Bhutan Tashiyangtse 2000m, October
Bhutan2012 1193
Bhutan Tashiyangtse 2000m, October
Nepal 95 118 P206 ergebnis
Nepal south of Rupina La 3400m October
Nepal 95 119 P207 ergebnis
Nepal south of Rupina La 3400m October

Description

Codonopsis viridis is a Himalayan twining or scrambling perennial distributed along the central and eastern ranges from Nepal through northern India, Sikkim and Bhutan into south-western China, with 162 GBIF records concentrated in this Sino-Himalayan belt. It grows in shrubberies, forest margins, hedgerows and disturbed banks across a wide montane elevation span, from warm-temperate slopes to the subalpine zone. The cited collections illustrate this amplitude: from Tashiyangtse in eastern Bhutan at 2000 m to a higher site south of the Rupina La in Nepal at 3400 m, both flowering in October at the close of the monsoon.

It is a herbaceous climber with slender, twining stems emerging from a tuberous or fleshy rootstock, the foliage and roots emitting the characteristic acrid Codonopsis odour. The leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, alternate or scattered along the stem, thin-textured and entire to obscurely toothed. The flowers are solitary and terminal or borne on slender lateral branches, broadly campanulate to cup-shaped, the corolla greenish to greenish-yellow, often faintly veined or tinged within, with five short spreading lobes. The fruit is a turbinate capsule with a flattened apex, dehiscing to release numerous small seeds.

Codonopsis is a large Asian genus centred on the Himalaya and China, and C. viridis is distinguished within it by its greenish corolla and climbing habit. Like its congeners, it is visited by bees and flies and several species are harvested as substitutes for the tonic root "dang shen". The species is widespread and locally frequent across its range and is not regarded as of conservation concern.

Author: Wall. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Lammers monograph of Campanulaceae (Codonopsis)

Orchideaceae

Coelogyne punctulata

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Nepal 2001 237 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Niuli Kharka 2500m, May
Sikkim2004 334 G595 ergebnis
Sikkim Choka 3330m, April
Nepal 1994 288 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Milka-Danda 2850m, May 

Description

Coelogyne punctulata Lindl. is an epiphytic orchid of the Himalaya and neighbouring mountains, recorded from India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Vietnam and Bangladesh (225 GBIF occurrences). It grows on mossy trunks and branches, and occasionally as a lithophyte on shaded rocks, in temperate broad-leaved and mixed forest, generally between 2000 and 3300 m. It was documented in Nepal at Niuli Kharka in Gorkha around 2500 m and at Milka-Danda in the east near 2850 m, both in May, and in Sikkim at Choka at 3330 m in April, reflecting the cool, humid mid-montane forests it favours.

It is a sympodial epiphyte with closely set, ovoid to oblong pseudobulbs borne on a creeping rhizome, each bearing one or two plicate, elliptic-lanceolate leaves narrowed to a petiole-like base. The inflorescence is a few-flowered raceme arising with the new growth. The flowers are white to pale cream, the elliptic sepals and narrower petals spreading, and the showy trilobed labellum marked with yellow or orange keels and reddish-brown to ochre spotting on the disc, the lateral lobes erect about the column. The fruit is a ribbed, dehiscent capsule releasing dust-fine seeds.

Coelogyne is a large Asian genus and C. punctulata sits within the section of small-flowered white-and-spotted species; it has at times been confused with the related C. nitida, a synonymy reflected in the original page reference. The deceptive, nectarless flowers are pollinated by bees, and the minute wind-dispersed seeds depend on mycorrhizal fungi for germination. As a forest epiphyte it is vulnerable to habitat loss and orchid collection, concerns shared across wild-harvested Coelogyne, and the genus is listed under CITES Appendix II.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalaya (King & Pantling), Coelogyne monograph (Clayton, The Genus Coelogyne)

Orchideaceae

Coelogyne uniflora 

by GP Jürgens

Lindl.

Nepal 2001 464 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Gunda 1700m, May

Description

Coelogyne uniflora (long known as Panisea uniflora) is an epiphytic orchid distributed across the eastern Himalaya and Indochina, ranging from Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan through northeast India to southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia; GBIF records 90 occurrences across this range. It grows as an epiphyte on mossy trunks and branches, and occasionally as a lithophyte on shaded rocks, in humid subtropical to lower temperate broad-leaved and evergreen forest, generally between about 1000 and 2200 m. The photographed plant from Gunda in the Gorkha district of Nepal at 1700 m in May illustrates its flowering at the onset of the monsoon, when atmospheric humidity in these mid-montane forests is high.

It is a small, tufted, sympodial epiphyte with closely spaced, ovoid to cylindrical pseudobulbs borne on a creeping rhizome, each pseudobulb bearing one or two narrowly lanceolate, plicate leaves. The inflorescence is short and few-flowered, usually carrying a single relatively large flower (whence uniflora) at or near the base of the new growth. The flower has spreading, pale creamy-white to yellowish sepals and petals; the lip (labellum) is three-lobed, often marked with reddish-brown to orange and bearing low keels on the disc, the lateral lobes erect. The column is slender and the fruit a ribbed dehiscent capsule releasing dust-like seeds.

The species exemplifies recent generic realignments within the Coelogyninae (Orchidaceae): the genus Panisea has been subsumed into a broadly circumscribed Coelogyne on molecular phylogenetic grounds, so the wp_link "panisea-uniflora" reflects the former placement while Coelogyne uniflora is the currently accepted name. Like other coelogynes it produces minute wind-dispersed seeds dependent on mycorrhizal fungi for germination. Though wide-ranging, epiphytic orchids are sensitive to deforestation and collection and are afforded CITES Appendix II protection.

Author: Lindl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 25, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Flora of Nepal, The Genus Coelogyne: A Synopsis (Clayton & Pradhan)

Apiaceae

Cortia depressa

by G & P Jürgens

(D.Don) C.Norman

Nepal 99 273 ergebnis
West-Nepal Loccu 3800m, June

Description

Cortia depressa is a cushion-forming alpine umbellifer distributed from Nepal through Sikkim, Bhutan, and northeast India into upper Myanmar and southwestern China (Yunnan, Xizang). GBIF records 284 occurrences, indicating a moderately well-collected species. It is characteristic of high-altitude open habitats including alpine meadows, rocky screes, dry turf, and exposed ridgetops at elevations of 3,200–4,800 m. The species is well adapted to the extreme conditions of the alpine zone, where it tolerates intense solar radiation, frost, and wind exposure by maintaining an extremely compact growth form pressed close to the substrate.
Cortia depressa is a dwarf, depressed-caespitose, perennial herb arising from a stout, woody taproot. The entire plant is typically only 2–5 cm tall, forming dense rosettes or low mats. Leaves are pinnately or bipinnately dissected into small, crowded, linear segments, 1–3 cm long, with sheathing petiolar bases that are often purple-tinged and somewhat scarious. The inflorescence is a simple or compound umbel, sessile or on very short peduncles barely exceeding the foliage. Umbellules are compact, with minute, white to pinkish flowers, 1–2 mm across, each with five petals and five stamens. The involucral and involucellar bracts are conspicuous relative to the diminutive plant. The fruit is a compressed, ellipsoid cremocarp, 3–5 mm long, with prominent dorsal ridges and well-developed vittae.
The photographed specimen from Loccu in western Nepal at 3,800 m in June documents an early-monsoon flowering occurrence, consistent with the brief alpine growing season. Cortia is a small genus of five to eight species endemic to the Sino-Himalayan region, and C. depressa is the most widespread member. It is distinguished from the related C. lindleyi by its more strongly depressed habit and sessile to subsessile umbels. The species exemplifies morphological adaptations to alpine environments — dwarfism, dense pubescence, and compact rosette architecture — that minimize heat and water loss. It serves as an indicator species for well-preserved alpine turf communities across the Himalayas.

Author: (D.Don) C.Norman · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 14, Flora of Nepal Checklist, Pimenov & Leonov: The Genera of Umbelliferae (1993)