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Spring

Brassicaceae

Cardamine elegantula

by G & P Jürgens

Hook.f. & Thomson

Nepal 2001 87 ergebnis ergebnis
East-Nepal Gupka Pokhari 2920m, April

Description

Cardamine elegantula is an Eastern Himalayan species ranging from eastern Nepal through Sikkim and the northern West Bengal hills into Bhutan, with GBIF recording 17 occurrences across BT, NP and IN. It is a plant of cool, humid temperate forest, occurring on shaded, moss-covered banks, in damp ravines and along streamsides where the soil remains moist through the growing season. The photographed population was found in East Nepal at Gupka Pokhari near 2920 m, flowering in April, which is characteristic of its early-season anthesis at montane elevations broadly between 2500 and 3500 m.

The species is a slender, glabrous perennial herb arising from a thin rhizome, with erect to ascending, sparingly branched stems. The leaves are pinnately compound: the cauline leaves bear several pairs of ovate to lanceolate, toothed lateral leaflets and a larger terminal leaflet, the whole foliage delicate in texture. Flowers are borne in lax terminal racemes; each has four free sepals and four white to pale pink, clawed petals arranged in the cruciform pattern of the Brassicaceae, with the characteristic tetradynamous androecium of six stamens. The fruit is a slender, linear silique that dehisces elastically along two valves to disperse the small seeds in a single row.

Within Cardamine, a large cosmopolitan genus of bittercresses, C. elegantula belongs to the perennial, rhizomatous Himalayan element distinguished by its graceful habit, pinnate leaves and slender siliques. As a moisture-demanding forest understorey herb it serves as an indicator of intact, undisturbed temperate woodland. It has not been formally assessed for conservation status; its restricted Eastern Himalayan range makes it potentially sensitive to forest clearance and habitat desiccation.

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

Brassicaceae

Cardamine macrophylla

by GP Jürgens

Willd.

Sikkim2011 373
Sikkim Lada-La 3800m, June
Sikkim 2006 356 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tamrong 2750m, May

Description

Cardamine macrophylla Willd. is a robust perennial crucifer with a broad distribution across temperate Asia, occurring in China, Russia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Korea and elsewhere. In the Himalaya it is recorded from Sikkim at Lada-La near 3800 m, flowering in June, and from Tamrong in West Bengal at about 2750 m in May, spanning the temperate to subalpine zones. The species favours moist, shaded habitats: streamsides, wet meadows, forest margins, ravines and seepage slopes, generally between 2000 and 4000 m, on rich, humose soils. Its roughly 5068 GBIF records reflect a genuinely widespread and frequently collected species across its extensive range.

The plant arises from a creeping, scaly rhizome and produces erect, stout, leafy stems up to 70 cm or more. The leaves are pinnately compound with several pairs of large, lanceolate to ovate, serrate leaflets, the foliage notably ample for the genus, accounting for the epithet macrophylla. The flowers are borne in dense terminal corymbose racemes and are showy, with four spreading petals of pink, lilac to purplish hue and the usual tetradynamous stamens. The fruit is a long, linear, flattened silique that dehisces elastically to scatter the seeds in a single row.

Cardamine belongs to the tribe Cardamineae, a large and taxonomically complex genus in which polyploidy and hybridisation are widespread; C. macrophylla itself encompasses considerable morphological and cytological variation, with several infraspecific taxa and allied forms recognised across its range. Spreading both by seed and by rhizome, it can form extensive clonal stands in suitable wet ground. Widespread and ecologically tolerant, it is of no conservation concern, and the rhizome and young shoots are used locally as a wild vegetable.

Author: Willd. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Bhutan, Cardamine systematic revisions (Al-Shehbaz)

Brassicaceae

Cardamine pulchella

by G & P Jürgens

(Hook.f. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz & G.Yang

Sikkim 2006 422 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Kishong 2800m, May

Description

Cardamine pulchella is a delicate perennial herb of the Sino-Himalayan high mountains, recorded by GBIF from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar across about 147 occurrences. It inhabits cool, moist alpine and subalpine sites, growing on damp grassy slopes, beside rills and snowmelt flushes, and in open turf among rocks, generally from around 2800 to over 4500 m. The image from Kishong in West Bengal at about 2800 m, flowering in May, captures it near the lower edge of its range, where the early-season moisture of melting snow supports its slender, soft growth.

The plant arises from a slender creeping rhizome and produces low, often somewhat fleshy stems. The leaves are pinnately divided or compound, with a few rounded to oblong leaflets, the terminal leaflet frequently larger; both basal and cauline leaves are present, and the foliage is thin-textured and glabrous to sparsely hairy. The flowers are borne in a short few-flowered raceme and are relatively large for the genus, with four free sepals and four spreading petals that are white to pale lilac or pinkish-purple, conspicuous against the small stature of the plant. There are six tetradynamous stamens. The fruit is a slender linear silique that opens by two valves springing elastically from the persistent septum to scatter the seeds.

The species was transferred to its current placement by Al-Shehbaz and G. Yang, reflecting modern molecular and morphological reassessment of the alpine Asian Cardamine. It is part of a group of high-elevation crucifers adapted to short growing seasons and cold, wet substrates, completing flowering and fruiting rapidly after snowmelt. Though not assessed as threatened, such specialised alpine herbs are vulnerable to the upward compression of suitable habitat under climate warming, and to disturbance of fragile snowbed and flush communities.

Author: (Hook.f. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz & G.Yang · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Al-Shehbaz revisions of Asian Brassicaceae, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal

Brassicaceae

Cardamine yunnanensis

by G & P Jürgens

Franch.

Sikkim 2006 346 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Tolung 2500m, May

Description

Cardamine yunnanensis is a temperate montane bittercress distributed through China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan, its 298 georeferenced occurrences indicating a fairly widespread Sino-Himalayan presence. It is a herb of cool, moist, shaded habitats, occupying forest floors, stream sides, damp banks and seepage areas within the temperate zone. The collection from Tolung in West Bengal, India, at 2500 m in May reflects its spring growth and flowering in moist broadleaved forest, when soils are kept reliably damp by snowmelt and early-season precipitation.

The plant is a slender annual or perennial herb with erect or ascending, often slightly fleshy stems arising from a thin rootstock. The leaves are usually pinnately compound or lobed, with a larger terminal leaflet and smaller lateral segments, the margins entire to toothed. The flowers are arranged in terminal racemes and follow the cruciferous plan, with four sepals, four white to pale lilac petals in a cross, and the tetradynamous androecium of six stamens. The diagnostic fruit is a slender, linear, laterally compressed silique that dehisces explosively, the valves coiling elastically to fling the small seeds away from the parent plant.

Cardamine is a large, cosmopolitan genus of the Brassicaceae characterised by its narrow siliques and frequently divided leaves, with a notable concentration of species in the Sino-Himalayan mountains. Many species are calcifuge moisture-lovers and several are used as wild greens. With a broad distribution spanning several countries and tolerance of disturbed damp ground, C. yunnanensis is secure and not considered threatened.

Author: Franch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Cardamine systematic and phylogenetic studies (Brassicaceae), Flowers of the Himalaya (Polunin & Stainton)

Liliaceae

Cardiocrinum giganterum

by G & P Jürgens

(Wall.) Makino

Garh 07 234 ergebnis
India Garwahl Trijugi Narayan 2250m, June
Sikkim 2006 469 ergebnis
Sikkim Ringi Chu 2200, May
Sikkim 2006 471 ergebnis
Sikkim Ringi Chu 2200, May

Description

Cardiocrinum giganteum is the world's largest lily, distributed from central Nepal through Sikkim, Bhutan, and northeast India into upper Myanmar and southwestern China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang). With over 1,370 occurrences recorded on GBIF, it is well-documented across its range. The species inhabits moist, shaded ravines and openings in temperate broadleaved and mixed forests at elevations of 1,500–2,800 m, favouring deep, humus-rich soils under canopies of Magnolia, Acer, and Rhododendron.
Cardiocrinum giganteum is a monocarpic perennial growing from a large, conical bulb up to 15 cm in diameter. In its final flowering year, the plant produces a stout, hollow stem reaching 1.5–3.5 m in height. Basal leaves are broadly cordate, glossy dark green, up to 45 cm long, with a conspicuous reticulate venation. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme of 10–20 large, trumpet-shaped, fragrant flowers, each 15–20 cm long, white with maroon-purple streaking inside the throat. The six tepals are slightly recurved at the tips. The fruit is an oblong, erect capsule, 4–6 cm long, containing numerous flat, winged seeds adapted for wind dispersal. After flowering and fruiting, the parent bulb dies, but several daughter bulblets persist at the base, requiring 5–7 years to reach flowering size.
The species was first described from material collected by Nathaniel Wallich in Nepal. The photographed specimens from Trijugi Narayan in Garhwal (2,250 m) and Ringi Chu in Sikkim (2,200 m) represent populations near the western and central portions of the range, respectively. Though widely cultivated in temperate gardens, wild populations face pressure from habitat fragmentation and collection. The var. yunnanense, sometimes recognized from southwestern China, differs in its bronze-flushed foliage, but its taxonomic distinctness remains debated.

Author: (Wall.) Makino · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 24, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Grierson & Long (1983)

Fagaceae

Castanopsis hystrix

by G & P Jürgens

A.DC.

Nepal 97 413 P797 ergebnis
Nepal Tashigang 2230m, May
Nepal 97 414 P800 ergebnis
Nepal Tashigang 2230m, May
Nepal 97 417 G804 ergebnis
Nepal Tashigang 2230m, May

Description

Castanopsis hystrix A.DC. is an evergreen forest tree of the Fagaceae, widespread through the eastern Himalaya and Indo-Burmese region into southern China and Taiwan; native occurrences span India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and China, with introduced records in Japan and elsewhere, and over 1,100 georeferenced collections overall. It is a dominant or codominant canopy species of subtropical and lower-temperate broad-leaved evergreen forest, often forming mixed stands with Quercus, Lithocarpus, Schima and laurels on humid montane slopes. The photographed tree from Tashigang in eastern Nepal at about 2,230 m in May lies within the species' characteristic mid-elevation belt, typically between roughly 1,000 and 2,500 m.

It is a medium to large tree with a straight bole and greyish, longitudinally fissured bark. The leaves are alternate, simple, leathery, lanceolate to oblong, entire or finely toothed toward the apex, glossy above and often coppery-tomentose beneath. The plant is monoecious: erect catkin-like spikes bear the small unisexual flowers, the staminate above and pistillate below. The defining feature is the densely spiny cupule (whence the epithet hystrix, 'porcupine'), an indehiscent or tardily splitting involucre clothed in branched echinate spines and enclosing a single ovoid, brown nut.

Castanopsis is a large Asian genus centred on the Sino-Himalayan and Malesian regions, and C. hystrix is among its most economically important members, valued for durable timber and as a keystone of montane evergreen forest ecosystems. The acorns are an important wildlife food. Although the species remains widespread and is not globally threatened, primary stands have been depleted by logging and shifting cultivation, and it is increasingly used in reforestation.

Author: A.DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 4, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Soepadmo: Fagaceae in Flora Malesiana (1972)

Fagaceae

Castanopsis tribuloides

by GP Jürgens

A.DC.

Bhutan2014 87
Bhutan Trashigang 1400m, May
Bhutan2014 167
Bhutan Trashigang 1400m, May
Bhutan2014 165
Bhutan Trashigang 1400m, May

Description

Castanopsis tribuloides is an evergreen chinquapin widely distributed across the eastern Himalaya and Indo-Burma into southern China and Japan, recorded from Nepal, Bhutan, north-eastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina and the Sino-Japanese region. GBIF aggregates some 766 occurrences, concentrated in the montane forests of the eastern Himalaya and South-East Asia. It is a canopy or sub-canopy tree of subtropical and warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest, often in mixed oak-laurel associations on hill slopes, typically between about 1000 and 2500 m. The tree photographed near Trashigang in eastern Bhutan (1400 m, May) reflects its place in the moist mid-elevation forests of the eastern Himalayan belt, flowering in the pre-monsoon season.

The species is a medium-sized tree with greyish bark and slender twigs. The leaves are simple, alternate, coriaceous, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, entire or finely serrate toward the apex, glabrous and glossy above and often thinly scaly or coppery beneath when young. The flowers are unisexual, borne in erect catkin-like spikes, the staminate inflorescences slender and the pistillate flowers in few-flowered clusters. The diagnostic fruit is a small nut enclosed in a globose cupule densely covered with slender, spreading, often branched spines, recalling a Tribulus burr and giving the epithet; the spiny involucres are borne in dense infructescences and dehisce to release the nut.

Castanopsis is a large genus of Asian Fagaceae distinguished from Castanea and Lithocarpus by its evergreen habit and persistently spiny cupules. C. tribuloides, described by Alphonse de Candolle, is variable in leaf form and cupule spininess, and is closely allied to other Himalayan chinquapins with which it can intergrade. As a widespread, often common forest dominant it is not threatened, while being ecologically valuable as wildlife mast and locally used for timber and fuelwood.

Author: A.DC. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Thailand, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, monograph of Asian Fagaceae (Camus)

Rubiaceae

Catunaregam longispina

by GP Jürgens

(Link) Tirveng.

Nepal 97 542 G1061
Nepal Dhoban 740m April

Description

Catunaregam longispina is a spiny shrub or small tree of tropical and subtropical Asia, distributed from India and Nepal through Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. GBIF records about 165 occurrences across this range, concentrated in the Indian subcontinent and mainland South-East Asia. It is a plant of dry deciduous and mixed forest, thorn scrub, open hillsides and disturbed ground at low elevations, typically in the warm subtropical foothill and plains zone. The population imaged at Dhoban in Nepal (740 m, April) is characteristic of its habitat in the warm, seasonally dry hill country of the lower Himalayan foreland, flowering in spring before the monsoon.

The plant is a much-branched, often armed shrub bearing stout, straight, axillary thorns from which the epithet derives. The leaves are opposite or fascicled on short shoots, obovate to elliptic, entire, often clustered at the nodes, with interpetiolar stipules. The flowers are solitary or few at the shoot tips, fragrant, with a campanulate calyx and a salver- to funnel-shaped corolla that opens white or cream and frequently ages to yellow, the five lobes spreading and contorted in bud. Five stamens are inserted in the corolla throat and the ovary is inferior. The fruit is a leathery to woody, globose berry crowned by the persistent calyx and containing numerous seeds embedded in pulp.

Catunaregam (tribe Gardenieae) was segregated from the broadly defined Randia, and this species, transferred by Tirvengadum, has circulated under several synonyms in the Randia/Xeromphis complex; care is needed in distinguishing it from related thorny gardenioid shrubs. As a widespread and adaptable species of secondary and dry forest it is not of conservation concern, and its fruit and bark have local ethnobotanical uses, including as a fish poison and in folk medicine.

Author: (Link) Tirveng. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of British India, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Thailand, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, revision of Catunaregam and allied Gardenieae (Tirvengadum)

Zingiberacaea

Cautleya gracilis

by GP Jürgens

(Sm.) Dandy

Sikkim2004 336 P598
Sikkim/India Choka 3000m May
Garh 07 92 ergebnis
India Garhwal Trijugi Narayan 2500m, June
Sikkim 2006 210 ergebnis
India West-Bengal, Samadan 2300m, May

Description

Cautleya gracilis is a slender ginger widely distributed through the Sino-Himalayan region, documented by GBIF from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and adjacent Southeast Asia, with well over 650 occurrences making it the best-recorded species of its genus. It is frequently epiphytic or lithophytic, growing on mossy tree trunks, dripping cliffs and humid bank ledges in temperate broadleaved and mixed forest. The illustrated gatherings span Sikkim at Choka around 3000 m, Garhwal near Trijugi Narayan at 2500 m, and West Bengal at Samadan near 2300 m, flowering from May to June; the species generally favours the 1500-3000 m belt under monsoon humidity.

The plant grows from a short, fibrous-rooted rhizome producing a graceful leafy shoot to about 30-60 cm. The distichous leaves are lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed to a sheathing base, glabrous and often glaucous beneath. The inflorescence is a terminal, lax spike of few to several yellow flowers subtended by green or reddish bracts; each flower bears a slender corolla tube, a hooded dorsal lobe, prominent lateral staminodes and a bilobed labellum, with a single fertile stamen typical of the family. The fruit is a capsule splitting to reveal arillate seeds.

Cautleya is a small genus of perhaps two to three species centred on the Himalaya and southern China, closely allied to Roscoea but distinguished by its often epiphytic habit and capsular fruit. The yellow flowers are visited by long-tongued bees and the seeds dispersed when capsules open. Widespread and locally common, C. gracilis is of least concern, though epiphytic populations depend on intact, humid forest canopies vulnerable to logging and desiccation.

Author: (Sm.) Dandy · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Zingiberaceae of the Indian Subcontinent (Sabu)

Orchideaceae

Cephalanthera longifolia

by GP Jürgens

(L.) Fritsch

Bhutan2014 398
Bhutan Jakar 2400m, May
Bh2008 556 P840
Bhutan Paro 1950m April

Description

Cephalanthera longifolia (L.) Fritsch is a terrestrial orchid with one of the widest ranges in its genus, extending from western Europe and North Africa across temperate Asia to the Himalaya. GBIF records it from France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Britain, Greece, China and many other countries, with over 141000 occurrences reflecting its abundance in the western part of its range. It grows in dappled shade in deciduous and coniferous woodland, scrub and grassy banks, often on calcareous soils, from near sea level to about 2500 m. In the eastern Himalaya it reaches the montane forests of Bhutan, recorded at Jakar around 2400 m in May and at Paro near 1950 m in April.

The plant arises from a short rhizome with fleshy roots and produces an erect, leafy stem. The leaves are numerous, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, sheathing at the base, longer than the internodes and noticeably keeled. The lax terminal raceme bears several pure white flowers that scarcely open, remaining narrowly campanulate; the sepals and petals are lanceolate and acute, and the labellum is shorter, divided into a basal hypochile with a small spur-like sac and an apical epichile marked with orange-yellow ridges that guide pollinators. The ovary is twisted and glabrous, ripening into an erect capsule.

Cephalanthera belongs to subtribe Limodorinae of tribe Neottieae and, like its relatives, is partially mycoheterotrophic, drawing carbon from ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with forest trees. Cephalanthera longifolia is globally secure given its enormous range, but it is locally scarce and legally protected in parts of northern Europe where suitable woodland is fragmented. Its trans-Palaearctic distribution makes it a notable example of a widespread orchid reaching its eastern limit in the Himalayan forests.

Author: (L.) Fritsch · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora Europaea, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Delforge monograph of Orchids of Europe