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Summer

Rosaceae

Sibbaldia cuneifolia

by G & P Jürgens

(Bertol.) Paule & Soják

Bhutan2012 910
Bhutan Tumching-La 4000m, October
Sikkim2011 27
Bhutan Lachen 2800m, June

Description

Sibbaldia cuneifolia (Bertol.) Paule & Soják is a cushion-forming perennial of the high Himalaya and adjoining Central Asian mountains, distributed across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and SW China, with additional records from temperate Europe (Austria, Switzerland, Britain, Sweden, Finland) reflecting both a wide alpine range and naturalised or rock-garden occurrences; the roughly 184 georeferenced collections concentrate in the Sino-Himalayan alpine belt. It inhabits open stony slopes, screes, glacial moraine, alpine turf and the margins of late-melting snowbeds. The species ascends to considerable altitude, as the photographed material from the Tumching-La pass in Bhutan at about 4,000 m in October and from Lachen at 2,800 m in June illustrates, spanning the subalpine to high-alpine zones.

It is a low, mat-forming herb arising from a woody, branched rootstock and slender creeping rhizome. The leaves are trifoliolate and basal in dense rosettes, the obovate-cuneate leaflets wedge-shaped at the base and conspicuously few-toothed at the truncate apex, often somewhat fleshy and sparsely strigose. Short cymes bear small flowers with five green sepals alternating with smaller epicalyx segments, and five minute yellow petals shorter than the calyx; stamens are typically five, and the carpels few, ripening into small dry achenes seated on a dry receptacle.

The genus Sibbaldia is closely allied to Potentilla, into which it is sometimes merged, and the basionym links this taxon to the Potentilla ambigua complex referenced on the source page. Adapted to short growing seasons, intense insolation and frost, these prostrate cushions exemplify alpine stress tolerance. The species is widespread and not considered threatened, though high-altitude populations are sensitive to grazing pressure and climate-driven upslope shifts.

Author: (Bertol.) Paule & Soják · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of China Vol. 9, Flora of Bhutan Vol. 1, GBIF, Soják: Notes on Potentilla and allied genera (2008)

Rosaceae

Sibbaldia parviflora

by G & P Jürgens

Willd.

Garh 07 206 ergebnis
India Garhwal Panwali 3300m, June

Description

Sibbaldia parviflora is a low alpine herb with a broad distribution spanning the Caucasus, Anatolia, Iran, Central Asia and the Himalaya, recorded from Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, with scattered European and other collections reflecting cultivation and herbarium material. Its roughly 662 georeferenced records mark a common and wide-ranging mountain species. It grows in alpine meadows, short grassy turf, stony slopes and grazed pasture, typically at about 2700-4500 m. The collection from Panwali in Garhwal, India at 3300 m in June is representative of its early-summer flowering on open Himalayan pasture.

It is a small, tufted, somewhat hairy perennial growing from a stout, branched, woody rootstock that gives rise to crowded rosettes. The leaves are trifoliolate with obovate to cuneate leaflets that are toothed at the truncate apex, often silky-pubescent and greyish-green. The small flowers are clustered in compact cymes on short scapes; each has five sepals alternating with an epicalyx and five small, narrow, pale yellow to whitish petals shorter than the sepals, hence parviflora, with five to ten stamens and few carpels seated on a slightly hairy receptacle. The fruit is a small cluster of dry glabrous achenes.

Sibbaldia is a small genus of cushion- and mat-forming alpine herbs closely allied to Potentilla, and recent molecular work has both narrowed and reshaped its limits; S. parviflora remains among its core species. The dwarf rosette habit and reduced flowers are adaptations to cold, grazed, high-radiation alpine environments, and pollination is by generalist alpine insects. Given its very wide trans-Asian range and tolerance of grazing, it is of least conservation concern.

Author: Willd. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Sibbaldia phylogeny (Smedmark) monograph

Rosaceae

Sibbaldia purpurea

by G & P Jürgens

Royle

Nepal 99 315 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 4200m, June
Garh 07 454 ergebnis
India Garhwal Khiar Kutti 3900m, June

Description

Sibbaldia purpurea is a low, cushion-forming alpine perennial of the high Himalaya and adjacent Tibetan ranges, recorded from China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan (gbif_countries: CN, IN, NP, BT, ZZ, PK), with some 252 GBIF occurrences. It inhabits open alpine turf, gravelly slopes, screes and stony pastures, typically above the treeline in cold, well-drained, exposed sites. The illustrated gatherings come from Kalmura in West Nepal at about 4200 m and Khiar Kutti in Garhwal, India, near 3900 m, both flowering in June as the brief high-alpine growing season opens. In GBIF the name is treated under gbif_status SYNONYM, with Sibbaldia purpurea itself given as the accepted name.

The plant forms dense mats or low tufts from a branched woody caudex, with prostrate to ascending stems and crowded leaves. The leaves are trifoliolate, the leaflets small, wedge-shaped and toothed at the apex, frequently silky-hairy. The flowers are small and borne singly or in few-flowered cymes; they are distinctive within the genus for their reddish-purple to purple petals, contrasting with the yellow flowers of most Sibbaldia, set against a persistent calyx with an epicalyx. The fruit is a cluster of small, dry achenes.

Sibbaldia is a small genus of the rose family closely allied to Potentilla, from which it is segregated chiefly by its reduced stamen and carpel number, and recent molecular studies have repeatedly examined the boundary between the two; some treatments subsume part of Sibbaldia into Potentilla, accounting for the synonymy noted above. S. purpurea is a hardy cushion plant well adapted to alpine extremes. Widespread across the high Himalaya, it is of no conservation concern.

Author: Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Nepal, Flora of China, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Eriksson et al. phylogenetic studies of Potentilleae

Caryophyllaceae

Silene gonosperma

by G & P Jürgens

(Rupr.) Bocquet

Nepal 99 320 ergebnis
West-Nepal Kalmura 4200m, June

Description

Silene gonosperma is a high-mountain perennial campion with a wide Central Asian, Himalayan and boreal distribution, recorded from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the Himalaya (India, Nepal, Bhutan), Mongolia, Russia, China and even reaching Sweden in the broad sense. GBIF aggregates around 657 occurrences spanning this trans-Asiatic range. It is a plant of the alpine zone, growing in stony and grassy meadows, screes, moraines and exposed slopes, commonly above 3500 m and reaching well over 4000 m. The West-Nepal population photographed at Kalmura (4200 m, June) typifies its occurrence in cold, open high-alpine turf near the upper limit of flowering plants.

The species forms small tufts or cushions from a branched woody caudex, producing short, ascending, often glandular-hairy flowering stems. The leaves are opposite, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, the basal ones crowded and the cauline pairs few and reduced. The flowers are usually solitary or few, often nodding, with a tubular to inflated, many-nerved calyx frequently flushed dark purple, and five clawed petals, pink-purple to dull violet or greenish, with shallowly emarginate to bifid laminae. Ten stamens and three styles are present. The fruit is an ovoid capsule opening by six teeth and bearing the distinctive angular, often winged seeds that give the epithet.

Silene gonosperma, transferred by Bocquet from earlier placements in Melandrium and Wahlbergella, exemplifies the taxonomic flux around the boreal-alpine campions, and several subspecies and varieties have been described across its enormous range. Its cushion habit, dark calyx and angular seeds aid identification among co-occurring high-alpine Silene. As a widespread, locally frequent species of remote high-mountain habitats it faces no significant threats, though its uppermost populations may be sensitive to warming.

Author: (Rupr.) Bocquet · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of USSR, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Caryophyllaceae monograph of Silene (Bocquet)

Caryophyllaceae

Silene himalayensis

by G & P Jürgens

(Rohrb.) Majumdar

Nepal 99 517 ergebnis
West-Nepal Churta-Khola 3800m, June

Description

Silene himalayensis is a perennial campion widely distributed across the high mountains of Central and South Asia, ranging from Afghanistan and Tajikistan through Pakistan and the Himalaya (India, Nepal, Bhutan) into south-western China. GBIF records around 817 occurrences, concentrated in the Himalayan arc and the Chinese borderlands. It grows in alpine and subalpine habitats, favouring open meadows, grassy and stony slopes, screes and streambanks, generally between about 3000 and 4500 m. The West-Nepal population photographed at Churta-Khola (3800 m, June) is characteristic of its occurrence in moist alpine turf at the height of the short montane summer.

The species forms tufts from a branched woody rootstock, producing several ascending to erect, slender, often glandular-pubescent stems. The leaves are opposite, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, the basal ones tapering to the base and the cauline pairs sessile. The inflorescence is few-flowered, the flowers solitary or in lax dichasia and frequently nodding in bud. Each flower has a tubular to clavate, ten-nerved, glandular calyx, often suffused with purple, and five clawed petals, pink to purplish or whitish, the laminae bifid and bearing small coronal scales. Ten stamens and three styles are present; the fruit is an ovoid capsule opening by six apical teeth on a short carpophore, releasing reniform, tuberculate seeds.

The genus Silene is taxonomically complex in the Himalaya, and this species was transferred by Majumdar from Melandrium, reflecting uncertainty about generic limits between Silene and its segregates. Its glandular indumentum, nodding flowers and high-elevation ecology aid recognition among the many regional campions. As a broadly distributed, locally frequent alpine perennial it is not considered threatened, although high-altitude grazing and warming may locally affect marginal populations.

Author: (Rohrb.) Majumdar · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Caryophyllaceae monograph of Silene (Bocquet)

Caryophyllaceae

Silene nigrescens

by GP Jürgens

(Edgew.) Majumdar

Sikkim2003 215 G299
Sikkim Dzongri 3900m, August
Sikkim2003 216 P300
Sikkim Dzongri 3900m, August

Description

Silene nigrescens is an alpine campion of the Himalaya and adjacent mountains, ranging across China, Nepal, India and Bhutan and into Myanmar; GBIF records about 410 occurrences concentrated in the eastern and central Himalaya. It grows in high alpine meadows, grassy slopes, screes and stony pastures, generally between about 3500 and 4800 m. The illustrated plant was photographed at Dzongri in Sikkim at around 3900 m in August, during the monsoon flowering season when these dark-flowered campions colour the short turf of the eastern Himalayan uplands above the rhododendron scrub.

The species is a perennial herb growing from a slender, branched rootstock, forming low tufts of ascending to erect stems that are often glandular-hairy above. The leaves are opposite, sessile, narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, the lower ones crowded near the base. The flowers are nodding and few, with an inflated, ten-nerved, often dark-purple to nearly blackish calyx that gives the species its name; the petals are dingy purple to brownish with a bilobed limb and a small ligulate scale at the throat. The flower has three styles, and the capsule dehisces by six teeth, releasing numerous reniform seeds.

Described as (Edgew.) Majumdar from an Edgeworth basionym, Silene nigrescens belongs to the high-alpine, dark-calyx group of Himalayan Silene whose species limits are notoriously difficult owing to variation in vestiture and flower colour. Its broad eastern-Himalayan to southwest Chinese distribution makes it secure, and it forms part of the characteristic flora of monsoon-influenced alpine meadows, pollinated mainly by insects drawn to its sombre nodding flowers.

Author: (Edgew.) Majumdar · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Bhutan, Bocquet: Revision of Himalayan Silene

Caryophyllaceae

Silene purii

by GP Jürgens

Bocquet & N.P.Saxena

Sikkim2003 259 P357
Sikkim Dzongri 4200m, August

Description

Silene purii is a narrowly distributed high-alpine herb of the eastern Himalaya, recorded by GBIF only from Bhutan, with just four occurrences and closely allied populations extending into adjacent Sikkim. It occupies open turf, rocky slopes, moraine and grassy hollows above the treeline, generally between about 3900 and 4500 m. The illustrated plant was photographed at Dzongri in Sikkim at roughly 4200 m in August, during the brief monsoon flowering season when these tufted campions exploit the short, cool growing window of the eastern Himalayan summits.

The species is a perennial herb forming low tufts from a branched woody rootstock. The stems are short, ascending and often glandular-pubescent, bearing opposite, narrowly lanceolate to linear, somewhat fleshy leaves crowded toward the base. The flowers are few, terminal and shortly stalked; the calyx is tubular to inflated, ten-nerved and frequently purplish, while the petals are pink to purple with a bilobed or notched limb and a small scale at the throat. The ovary bears three styles and matures into a capsule dehiscing by six apical teeth, releasing numerous reniform seeds.

Named for its collector, Silene purii (Bocquet & N.P.Saxena) is one of many Himalayan campions whose limits remain poorly understood owing to scant collections and the plasticity of alpine Silene. Its extreme rarity in the herbarium record and restricted known range make it of considerable phytogeographic interest as an eastern Himalayan endemic. The paucity of records suggests it may be genuinely localised and potentially vulnerable, warranting targeted survey and conservation assessment.

Author: Bocquet & N.P.Saxena · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Bocquet: Revision of Silene sect. Physolychnis

Caryophyllaceae

Silene stracheyi

by GP Jürgens

Edgew.

BhutanPG2011 832 01 01
Bhutan Chele-La, 3400m July

Description

Silene stracheyi is a Himalayan campion restricted to the high mountains of India, Bhutan and Nepal, known from only about 17 GBIF records and thus among the more poorly documented members of the genus in the region. It grows in open subalpine and alpine habitats, including rocky slopes, grassy pastures, scrub margins and stony banks, generally between about 3000 and 4000 m. The plant photographed at Chele-La in western Bhutan at 3400 m in July, flowering at the height of the monsoon summer, typifies its association with cool, well-drained high-mountain grassland and rock.

It is a perennial herb arising from a stout rootstock, with erect to ascending stems that are often glandular-pubescent in the upper parts. The leaves are opposite, narrowly lanceolate to oblong, sessile or shortly stalked and entire. The flowers are borne in a lax cyme; each has the inflated, tubular to campanulate, conspicuously veined calyx characteristic of Silene, within which sit five clawed petals, usually pink to purplish, the limbs notched or bifid and often bearing a small corona at the throat. The stamens and styles are typical of the genus, and the fruit is a capsule dehiscing by apical teeth to scatter the numerous reniform seeds.

Silene is one of the largest genera of Caryophyllaceae, with many narrowly endemic high-alpine species in the Sino-Himalayan region, of which S. stracheyi is one. The tubular calyx and clawed petals reflect adaptation to long-tongued and nocturnal pollinators. Given its small known range and few documented populations, the species warrants conservation attention, as such restricted Himalayan campions are vulnerable to grazing intensification and the upslope shifts driven by a warming climate.

Author: Edgew. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Flora of China (Caryophyllaceae), Bocquet monographic studies of Silene

Crassulaceae

Sinocrassula indica

by GP Jürgens

A. Berger

Nepal 99 949 ergebnis
West-Nepal Pamela 2700m, July

Description

Sinocrassula indica is a succulent biennial to short-lived perennial herb distributed through the Sino-Himalayan region, with records from China, India, Nepal and Bhutan and scattered naturalised or cultivated occurrences elsewhere. It grows on dry rocky banks, cliff ledges, stony slopes and walls in the montane belt, typically from about 1500 to 3500 m, rooting in shallow gritty pockets and crevices where competition is slight. The photographed plant comes from Pamela in West Nepal at around 2700 m, flowering in July during the monsoon. With over 650 georeferenced occurrences it is a frequently collected and widely recognised crassulaceous element of the Himalayan foothills and ranges.

The plant produces a basal rosette of fleshy, oblanceolate to spathulate leaves, glabrous or finely papillose, often flushed reddish, from which arises an erect, leafy, sometimes branched inflorescence-bearing stem. The cauline leaves are smaller, sessile and crowded. Flowers are numerous, borne in a dense terminal thyrse of cymes; they are small, with five erect or connivent petals that are greenish-yellow to dull red, scarcely spreading, giving the flower an urn-shaped appearance. There are five stamens, and the carpels are erect with short styles. The fruit is a cluster of follicles releasing fine seeds, after which the monocarpic flowering rosette dies.

Sinocrassula was segregated from Crassula and Sedum on the basis of its erect, barely opening petals and Asian distribution, and S. indica is the most widespread species of the genus. The taxon is morphologically variable in leaf shape and flower colour, and several infraspecific forms have been described. It is occasionally grown by succulent enthusiasts. Being common and ecologically adaptable across a broad range, it is of no conservation concern.

Author: A. Berger · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Nepal, Crassulaceae of the World (monograph)

Brassicaceae

Solms-Laubachia platycarpa

by G & P Jürgens

(Hook.f. & Thomson) Botsch.

BhutanPG2011 204
Bhutan Tsochenchen 3700m, June

Description

Solms-laubachia platycarpa is a high-alpine crucifer of the eastern Himalaya and the Hengduan-Tibetan region, recorded from China, India and Bhutan, with only about 26 GBIF occurrences reflecting its restricted, hard-to-reach habitat. It is a true cushion-plant of the upper alpine zone, growing among scree, gravel, rock crevices and stony turf, typically above about 3500 m and often to well over 4000 m. The plant shown from Tsochenchen in Bhutan at 3700 m, flowering in June, occupies the exposed, frost-prone substrates characteristic of the genus.

It is a low, densely tufted perennial herb with a stout, branched woody caudex clothed in the persistent petiole-bases of former leaves and topped by rosettes of small, entire, fleshy, oblanceolate to spathulate leaves. The flowers are borne singly or few on short scapes scarcely exceeding the leaf cushions and have four white to pale lilac or purplish petals in the typical cruciferous arrangement. The diagnostic fruit is a flattened, broadly elliptic to orbicular, latiseptate silicula with a persistent style and a few large seeds, the broad flat silique giving the epithet platycarpa.

Solms-laubachia (combined by Botschantzev from Hooker & Thomson's basionym) is a small genus centred on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, allied to Desideria and the alpine Crucifereae; molecular work has clarified its boundaries within tribe Euclidieae. Restricted to fragile high-alpine substrates, such narrowly distributed cushion crucifers are potentially vulnerable to climate-driven habitat contraction and merit monitoring.

Author: (Hook.f. & Thomson) Botsch. · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Yue et al. systematics of Solms-laubachia