Lovely images. So useful to have a shot of the rear of a flower, which illustrates the calyx/sepals so much better - their shape is often important to know to help towards a reliable identification. As is the underside of leaves (as well as upper surface). The final shot also shows well the 'epicalyx' with lobes alternating with the 5 calyx lobes.
*Fragaria nubicola* is very common in the temperate and subalpine zones along much of the Himalayan. Stewart remarked that the berries were often gathered for sale by children. I have seen it growing abundantly in and at the edge of lower forest in Bhutan (when working as a consultant to The Royal Government on 'The Cultivation of Medicinal Plants for Traditional Medicine' - Himalayan Strawberry is used in Tibetan Medicine. Interestingly, it has the same Tibetan name as *Saxifraga stenophylla* (formerly S.flagellaris) which also has small reddish runners. If my memory serves me correctly, the strawberry was the superior form according to Tibetan doctors. It is common in Kashmir but when I first came to H.P., leading a botanical tour in Lahoul in 1985, we found *Duchesnea indica* on the floor of the Deodar forest at Manali - *F.nubicola* occurs on the Rohtang. By coincidence, I viewed an image of a close-up (but not as good as Ashwini's) of a white flower from Rohtang which I thought probably was this species, taken by a British visitor (en route to Ladakh) just days ago. Ashwini's images help me confirm its identity. "nubicola" means "cloud dweller" and it is certainly found higher in the mountains (to 3800m) than *Duchesnea indica*. I do not recollect having tasted its fruits but am sure they are better than the iinspid ones of the 'Indian Strawberry' (Duchesnea). There was an inquiry about distinguishing *F.nubicola* from *F.daltoniana* - the latter, found from Kumaon to Sikkim usually has (according to Kletter & Kriechbaum in 'Tibetan Medicinal Plants') smaller leaflets with only 4 ot 6 teeth on each side, not silky on the underside, the ripe fruit becoming conical and pink or whitish when ripe. On Sunday, 3 May 2015 19:25:31 UTC+1, ashwini wrote: > It was my first time seeing this Himalayan strawberry. We have the *Duchesnea > indica* aplenty but this one is scarce. I saw several plant with flowers > today but no fruit. > > *Fragaria nubicola* (Himalayan Strawberry) > Above Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, HP > 1850m approx. > 3 May 2015 > > Thanks. > Ashwini > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
