Tag:

Subalpine (2500-3500 m)

Araceae

Arisaema exappendiculatum

by G & P Jürgens

Hara

Nepal 2009 20 ergebnis
Nepal Helambu Koktrok 2500m, May

Description

Arisaema exappendiculatum is a Himalayan tuberous aroid of restricted distribution. GBIF holds only some 43 occurrences, chiefly from Nepal and adjacent China, with a handful of herbarium-derived European records (Belgium). It is a plant of moist temperate broadleaved and mixed forest, shaded ravines and shrubby slopes, growing in humus-rich soils. The illustrated plant was photographed in the Helambu region of central Nepal near Koktrok at about 2,500 m in May, a typical station within its montane band of roughly 2,000–3,000 m, where it emerges and flowers with the onset of the pre-monsoon rains.

The plant arises from a depressed-globose tuber producing usually a single leaf with a long sheathing petiole. The leaf is pedately divided into several oblong-lanceolate, acuminate leaflets. The inflorescence is a spathe with a convolute tube and an arching, acuminate limb, greenish to purplish and often pale-striped. As the epithet indicates, the spadix appendix is reduced or absent (exappendiculate), the spadix tapering abruptly above the fertile zone. The plants are dioecious, sex expression depending on tuber size; the fruiting spadix bears a cluster of red berries.

The absence of a developed spadix appendage distinguishes A. exappendiculatum within the predominantly Asian genus Arisaema and aligns it with related Himalayan species. Owing to its narrow range and modest population sizes it warrants monitoring, though no formal IUCN assessment is established. Note that the input wp_link references A. erubescens, with which this taxon should not be confused.

Author: Hara · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Nepal, Flora of China Vol. 23, GBIF, Gusman & Gusman: The Genus Arisaema (2006)

Araceae

Arisaema griffithii

by GP Jürgens

Schott

Bhutan2014 360
Bhutan Tumching-La 3100m, May
Bhutan2014 830
Bhutan Thimphu 2450m, May
Sikkim2004 399 P681
Sikkim/India Lachung 3200m
Nepal 2001 104 ergebnis ergebnis
East-Nepal Gupka Pokhari 3050m, April

Description

Arisaema griffithii is an eastern Himalayan tuberous geophyte distributed through Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling in India, Bhutan, and into adjacent southern China (Xizang, Yunnan) and northern Myanmar, with georeferenced records also from Bangladesh. It is a plant of the cool temperate zone, growing in shaded moist forest, shrubberies, forest clearings and grassy slopes broadly between 2400 and 3600 m. The images document its altitudinal span, from Bhutan's Tumching-La at 3100 m and Thimphu at 2450 m flowering in May, to Lachung in Sikkim at 3200 m and Gupka Pokhari in east Nepal at 3050 m in April.

The plant arises from a depressed tuber and typically bears two trifoliolate leaves with broadly ovate to rhombic, acuminate leaflets, the lateral pair often oblique. The species is celebrated for its remarkable inflorescence: the spathe is large and deeply purple, conspicuously net-veined with pale reticulation, with the tube broadly funnel-shaped and the lamina arched and downturned, its margins recurved. The spadix appendix is exserted and elongated into a long, pendent whip-like flagellum. The plants are dioecious, with small unisexual flowers crowded at the base of the spadix, and the female inflorescence develops a cluster of red berries at maturity.

Within Araceae, A. griffithii belongs to section Sinarisaema and is one of the most distinctive members of the genus, named for William Griffith. Its drooping, intricately veined spathe lures fungus-gnat and small fly visitors into the inflorescence. Prized among specialist gardeners, it remains locally frequent and is not considered globally threatened, though vulnerable to habitat loss and tuber collection.

Author: Schott · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Gusman & Gusman 'The Genus Arisaema: A Monograph for Botanists and Nature Lovers'

Araceae

Arisaema intermedium

by GP Jürgens

Blume

Nepal 2001 241 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Niuli Kharka 2600m, May
Nepal 2001 242 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Niuli Kharka 2600m, May
Garh 07 264 ergebnis
India Garhwal Belag Khal 2800m, June

Description

Arisaema intermedium is a Himalayan tuberous aroid distributed along the temperate forest belt of the central and eastern Himalaya, recorded by GBIF from India, Nepal, China, Bhutan and Pakistan across some 118 georeferenced collections. It is a plant of moist, humus-rich woodland floors, shady banks, forest clearings and the margins of rhododendron, oak and conifer forest, where it emerges with the onset of the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Its typical elevational band lies between roughly 2,400 and 3,200 m, consistent with the documented occurrences from Niuli Kharka in the Nepalese district of Gorkha at about 2,600 m in May and from Belag Khal in Garhwal, India, at around 2,800 m in June. The flowering coincides with the early growing season before the leaf is fully expanded.

The species grows from a subglobose underground tuber and produces a solitary leaf divided into three leaflets, the central leaflet broadly ovate to rhombic and the laterals obliquely ovate, the blade often somewhat undulate and acuminate. The inflorescence is a typical aroid spathe-and-spadix structure, the pseudostem and peduncle arising together; the spathe tube is greenish and the limb arched, frequently striped purplish and white with a long-acuminate apex. The diagnostic feature of the genus is the spadix appendage, which in this species is elongate and gradually tapering, projecting forward beyond the spathe mouth. As in other Arisaema the plants are paradioecious, smaller individuals bearing male flowers and larger ones female; pollinated female spadices develop into a dense club of fleshy red berries at maturity.

Arisaema intermedium belongs to a notoriously variable complex within section Sinarisaema, and its delimitation against allied taxa such as A. propinquum has long occupied aroid systematists. The genus exemplifies size-dependent sex change (sequential hermaphroditism keyed to tuber reserves), a reproductive strategy of considerable interest to evolutionary ecologists, with pollination effected by fungus-gnats and small flies trapped within the spathe. Though not formally assessed as threatened and locally frequent within its range, the species shares the general vulnerability of forest-floor Himalayan herbs to habitat degradation and the harvesting pressures that affect tuberous aroids.

Author: Blume · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China Vol. 23, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Flora of Nepal, Flora of Pakistan, Gusman & Gusman: The Genus Arisaema, A Monograph for Botanists and Nature Lovers

Araceae

Arisaema nepenthoides

by GP Jürgens

Mart.

Bhutan2014 32
Bhutan, Trashigang 1300m, May
Nepal 97 432 G839
Nepal Tashigaon 3100m May
Nepal 1994 269 ergebnis
Ost-Nepal Milka-Danda 3200m May 
Nepal1992 184 P270 ergebnis
Nepal Banyang 1900m March 

Description

Arisaema nepenthoides is a Himalayan cobra lily distributed from Nepal eastward through Sikkim, Bhutan and north-east India to Myanmar and south-western China, with about 322 GBIF occurrences reflecting its montane range. It is a herb of cool temperate to subalpine forest, growing in moist broad-leaved and conifer-Rhododendron forest, shady banks and forest margins, broadly from 1,900 to 3,600 m. The localities recorded for the photographed plants span this range, from Trashigang in eastern Bhutan at 1,300 m and Banyang in Nepal at 1,900 m to Tashigaon at 3,100 m and Milka Danda at 3,200 m, flowering between March and May as the snows recede.

It is a tuberous perennial arising from a depressed corm, producing a stout, conspicuously mottled pseudostem patterned with brownish-purple and pale markings reminiscent of a snake's skin. Usually two leaves are produced, each pedately divided into several elliptic to oblanceolate leaflets. The inflorescence is a spadix enclosed in a spathe whose tube is greenish and prominently striped, opening into a hooded, incurved limb that recalls the pitcher of a Nepenthes, hence the epithet nepenthoides. The species is dioecious, with the sexes distinguished by the spadix appendage; pollinated female plants develop a dense head of orange-red berries, each with few seeds.

Arisaema is a large genus centred on the Sino-Himalayan region, and A. nepenthoides belongs to a group recognised by its mottled pseudostem and distinctive hooded spathe. Like many relatives it shows sequential gender change, individuals functioning as male when small and as female once the tuber attains sufficient size, an adaptation to resource availability. Pollination is effected by fungus gnats and small flies attracted into the spathe chamber. The conspicuous spathe makes it a sought-after ornamental, but it remains widespread and locally common across the eastern Himalaya and is not considered threatened.

Author: Mart. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, The Genus Arisaema (Gusman & Gusman), Araceae of the Himalaya

Araceae

Arisaema propinquum

by GP Jürgens

Schott

Nepal 2001 310 ergebnis ergebnis
Nepal (Gorkha) Kharka 3100m, May
Nepal 2009 24 ergebnis
Nepal Helambu Koktrok 2600m, May

Description

Arisaema propinquum is a Himalayan tuberous aroid distributed from Pakistan and northern India through Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan into south-western China and Myanmar, with 257 GBIF occurrences across the central and western Himalaya. It grows in moist temperate forest, shrubberies, alpine meadow margins and open slopes, typically between about 2400 and 3700 m. The cited Nepalese collections – from Kharka in the Gorkha district at 3100 m and from Koktrok in Helambu at 2600 m, both in May – place its flowering in the late-spring period as the cobra-lilies emerge with the first monsoon moisture.

It arises from a depressed globose corm and usually produces a single (or paired) leaf divided into three broadly ovate to elliptic leaflets, the lateral ones obliquely based and the whole sometimes flushed purple beneath. The inflorescence is a typical aroid spadix enclosed in a spathe; in A. propinquum the spathe is dark purple with bold whitish or greenish longitudinal stripes, the tube cylindrical and the broad limb arching forward into a long, often filiform tail. The spadix appendage is slender and curved, exserted from the spathe mouth. The fruiting head is a dense ovoid cluster of bright red berries.

Arisaema is a large genus celebrated for paradioecy, in which individuals change sex between female and male states according to size and resources, and for its specialised fly- and fungus-gnat pollination within the trap-like spathe. A. propinquum belongs to the Himalayan striped-spathe assemblage and, while ornamentally prized, remains widespread and is not of conservation concern.

Author: Schott · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Gusman & Gusman monograph of Arisaema

Araceae

Arisaema speciosum

by GP Jürgens

(Wall.) Mart.

Nepal 97 439 P855
Nepal Tashigaon 3100m May
Sikkim 2006 6 ergebnis
India West-Bengal Maneybhajang 2000m, May

Description

Arisaema speciosum is an eastern Himalayan cobra lily distributed from Nepal through Sikkim and West Bengal in India, Bhutan and into south-central China, with peripheral records in Myanmar and Thailand; GBIF holds nearly 200 occurrences. It grows in cool, humid temperate forest, in the shade of broadleaved and mixed conifer woodland, on rich, moist, humus-laden soils along stream banks, ravines and shaded slopes. The collections illustrated, from Tashigaon in eastern Nepal at about 3100 m and from Maneybhajang in West Bengal at around 2000 m, both in May, reflect its montane belt of roughly 2000-3300 m, where it emerges and flowers as the pre-monsoon rains advance.

The plant arises from a depressed, tuberous corm and produces a single trifoliolate leaf on a stout, mottled petiole; the three leaflets are broadly ovate, acuminate and often suffused dark purplish-red along the margins and central rib. The inflorescence is a spathe with a deep maroon, white-striped tube and an arching, dark purple-brown limb. Most striking is the spadix, whose appendage is prolonged into a very long, pendent, whip-like filiform tail hanging well below the spathe. The plant is typically dioecious, sex expression varying with tuber size, and female spadices ripen into a dense club of bright red berries.

The epithet speciosum, meaning showy, refers to the dramatic spathe and trailing appendage. Within the large Asian genus Arisaema it belongs to a group with trifoliolate leaves and long-tailed spadices. Like its congeners it is protogynous and paradioecious, with pollination effected by fungus gnats lured into the spathe chamber. The species is grown by specialist cultivators, and habitat disturbance and over-collection are potential local conservation concerns.

Author: (Wall.) Mart. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Gusman The Genus Arisaema, Murata monograph of Arisaema

Aceraceae

Arisaema speciosum var. mirabile

by GP Jürgens

(Schott) Engl.

Bh09 208 G349
Bhutan
Sikkim2004 96 P166
India West-Bengal, Bersay 2600m April
Sikkim2004 98 P168
India West-Bengal, Bersay 2600m April

Description

Arisaema speciosum var. mirabile is a striking tuberous aroid of the eastern Himalaya. GBIF holds only some 20 occurrences, from India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, reflecting its restricted range and the limited collection of this montane taxon. It inhabits moist temperate broadleaved and mixed forest, shaded banks and humus-rich slopes, generally between about 2,000 and 3,000 m. The illustrated plant was photographed at Bersay in West Bengal (Darjeeling–Sikkim Himalaya), and in Bhutan, at around 2,600 m in April, emerging and flowering with the pre-monsoon rains. (Despite the input family "Aceraceae", this is an aroid of the Araceae.)

The plant arises from a depressed tuber and bears characteristically a single trifoliolate leaf with three large, broadly ovate to rhombic leaflets, the central one stalked, often with a reddish margin. The inflorescence is a spathe with a dark purple, white-striped tube and a long-acuminate limb; the spadix is prolonged into a very long, thread-like, pendent appendix that hangs well beyond the spathe, the diagnostic feature of this group. The plants are dioecious; female plants produce a dense head of red berries in fruit.

Var. mirabile is distinguished from typical A. speciosum by features of the spathe and the proportions of the leaflets and appendix, though some authors treat the variation as continuous. The exceptionally long flagelliform spadix appendix is thought to function in pollinator attraction (fungus-gnat trapping). Given its narrow distribution and small documented populations, the taxon merits conservation monitoring, and it is much sought after by specialist aroid growers.

Author: (Schott) Engl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, Flora of China Vol. 23, GBIF, Gusman & Gusman: The Genus Arisaema (2006)

Araceae

Arisaema tortuosum

by GP Jürgens

(Wall.) Schott

Sikkim2003 53 P72
Sikkim above Yoksam 2500m, August

Description

Arisaema tortuosum, the whipcord cobra lily, is a wide-ranging Himalayan and peninsular Indian aroid recorded from India, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with some 780 georeferenced occurrences and a number of records from cultivation in Europe and North America. It grows in moist forest, scrub, grassy clearings and shaded banks across a wide elevational span. The population photographed above Yoksam in western Sikkim at about 2500 m in August illustrates its montane forest habitat, in leaf and inflorescence during the monsoon on humus-rich soils.

The plant arises from a depressed, tuberous corm and produces one or two large, long-petiolate leaves divided into numerous radiating or pedately arranged leaflets. The inflorescence is a spathe enclosing a spadix, the latter prolonged into a remarkably long, erect or sinuous flagelliform appendage that gives the species its name and tortuosum epithet. Flowers are unisexual and borne at the spadix base, the species being protogynous and capable of size-dependent sex change between female, monoecious and male states. Pollinated fungus-gnats are trapped within the chamber. The fruit is a dense cluster of red berries borne on the swelling infructescence.

Arisaema is a large genus of considerable horticultural interest, and A. tortuosum is one of its most widespread and variable members, with several recognised varieties differing in leaflet number and spadix coloration. Its sequential hermaphroditism, in which individuals switch sex according to accumulated resources, is a celebrated example of size-dependent gender lability. Common across its extensive range, it is of least conservation concern.

Author: (Wall.) Schott · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China, Gusman & Gusman's The Genus Arisaema

Araceae

Arisaema utile

by GP Jürgens

Hook.f. ex Engl.

Sikkim2011 221
Sikkim, Yungthang 3350m, June
Sikkim2011 222
Sikkim, Yungthang 3350m, June
Sikkim2004 430 P746
Sikkim/India Lachung 3200m

Description

Arisaema utile is a tuberous geophyte of the Himalaya and adjacent ranges, recorded by GBIF in some 84 occurrences from China (Tibet), India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. It is a plant of the subalpine to lower alpine zone, occupying shrubberies, Rhododendron and conifer forest margins, moist meadows and stony slopes broadly between 3000 and 4300 m. The illustrated plants were found in Sikkim at Yungthang (3350 m, June) and Lachung (3200 m), where the species emerges and flowers shortly after snowmelt on cool, humus-rich ground at the upper limit of woody vegetation.

The plant arises from a depressed-globose tuber and typically bears a single trifoliolate leaf, the three leaflets broadly elliptic and often glaucous beneath, the whole sometimes purple-flushed. The inflorescence is a spadix subtended by a spathe whose tube is striped green and dark purple and whose limb is hooded and acuminate, frequently produced into a long filiform tip. The spadix appendix is slender and tail-like, exserted from the spathe mouth. As in the genus, the plant is paradioecious, individual tubers bearing male or female flowers according to size and vigour; pollinated female spadices ripen into a cylindrical infructescence of bright red berries.

Arisaema (Araceae, tribe Areae) is a large genus centred on the Sino-Himalayan region, and A. utile belongs to a Himalayan group characterised by a long-tailed spathe and trifoliolate leaf. GBIF treats the name as accepted. Sex expression shifts with resource status, an adaptation to harsh montane conditions; although collected for traditional use, the species remains locally frequent within its altitudinal band.

Author: Hook.f. ex Engl. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Gusman monograph The Genus Arisaema

Araceae

Arisaema vexillatum

by GP Jürgens

Hara & H.Ohashi

Nepal 97 249 P520
Nepal below Thudam 3450m, May

Description

Arisaema vexillatum is a narrowly distributed tuberous aroid of the eastern Himalaya and adjacent China, known from only China and Nepal with a sparse total of about 11 georeferenced records, reflecting both genuine rarity and limited collecting. It grows in cool-temperate to subalpine forest and shrubberies, in moist, humus-rich soils sheltered by rhododendron and conifer cover. The type material and the photographed plant come from the upper Arun drainage of eastern Nepal below Thudam at around 3450 m, flowering in May as the snow recedes, indicating a strongly montane ecology dependent on persistent soil moisture.

The plant arises from a depressed, subglobose tuber and produces typically a single leaf with a long sheathing petiole. The leaf blade is pedately divided into several oblong-lanceolate, acuminate leaflets arranged in a radiate fashion. The inflorescence is a spathe enclosing the spadix, the spathe tube cylindrical and the limb arching forward; the spadix appendix is slender and the plant is generally monoecious-dioecious depending on tuber size, a sex-lability typical of the genus. The fruiting spadix develops into a dense, club-shaped syncarp of bright red, few-seeded berries.

Arisaema vexillatum belongs to a difficult complex of eastern Himalayan species and was described by Hara and H. Ohashi from Nepalese collections. Like most Arisaema it depends on fungus-gnat and small-fly visitors trapped within the spathe for pollination. Its limited known range and montane habitat suggest vulnerability to habitat disturbance, though its conservation status remains formally unassessed and additional fieldwork would likely clarify its true distribution.

Author: Hara & H.Ohashi · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Gusman & Gusman The Genus Arisaema