Tetrastigma planicaule (Vitaceae): A new record for Bhutan

Abstract

We report here Tetrastigma planicaule (Hook.f.) Gagnep. of the Vitaceae family as a new species record in Bhutan. It is sighted inside the Tongling Kuenphen Community Forest, Gangzur Gewog in the Lhuentse district. It is an economically important plant that has medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine. From our field observations, it was observed to be a primary host for the rare holoparasitic Sapria himalayana Griff. in the current locations. Therefore, conservation of this species needs to scale up owing to its ethnobotanical use and to support the survival of the holoparasitic plant.

DISCOVERY, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSERVATION OF THE RARE PARASITIC PLANT SAPRIA HIMALAYANA (RAFFLESIACEAE) IN BHUTAN

“…Hooker (1865) Bhutan fit very precisely this species (Figs 3, 4). T. planicaule had not been reported from Bhutan (Long & Rae, 1991), but a new species record for the country has been published in a seperate article (Dorji et al, 2022). Wangchuk & Samten (2009) gave the host of Sapria himalayana in Bhutan as Tetrastigma rumicispermum (Lawson) Planchon.…”

Nine new records of plants from Bhutan

“…In the past few years, plant enthusiasts have been set out to explore areas that have not been covered before, resulting in the establishment of several new records. This collective effort led to the discovery of 41 species and two genera from 28 different families in Bhutan, which have been added to the Flora of Bhutan between 2019 and 2022 by multiple authors (Rabgay and Kumar 2019;Gyeltshen and Dema, 2020;R. Dorji et al, , 2022aR.…”