Flora of Nepal

The flora of Nepal is incredibly rich and great to observe. Nepal is located at the centre of the Himalaya. It is bounded by the arid and cold Tibetan plateau in the north as well as the humid and hit Indian plains in the south. Nepal is popular for its spectacular mountain scenery, cultural diversity as well as abundant wildlife. Eight of the ten highest peaks of the world are found in its borders. The mountainous ranges rise from the lowlands and within a distance of hundred kilometers you will find a variety of plants and flowers.

The deep river valleys, high mountains as well as lowland plains together with the dry winters and summer monsoon give a new touch to this country flora. Nepal is pretty smaller when compared with the United Kingdom or the US. In addition to this, it is barely a bit larger when compared with the boot of Italy. As per the existing checklists, it has been recorded that there are nearly six thousand and five hundred species of ferns and flowering plants. Out of these, about three hundred are endemic to Nepal. It means they only exist in the Himalayan country. Over and above, it is estimated that more than seven thousand species of plants are found in the outskirts of Nepal.

The importance of Nepal in terms of world conservation is highlighted by the Himalayan region’s international recognition. Since ancient eras, the residents of Nepal have been dependant on plants as well as plant based products. In recent times, as much as ninety percent of the Nepalese count on the subsistence agriculture. You will find the plants performing a significant role as fodder, arable crops, fruit, vegetables, building materials, fuel, and medicines. Similar to most of the Himalaya, the greater portion of Nepal has been modified by man for the past 4000 or 500 years. Conservation of the plants has turned out to be a major concern for the Government of Nepal. The good news is that the government of Nepal has introduced a network of conservation and protected areas stretched massively over sixteen percent of the land. But then, the implementation as well as the formulation of successful conservation measures is based on well communicated and accurate information pertaining to the plant diversity. You can get much of this information from the floras but then unlike the neighboring countries, Nepal doesn’t have a flora.

At present, the government is working on ideas so as to produce the first volume of the Flora of Nepal as well as the capacity building projects in Nepal. It can be rightly said that these projects are aimed at strengthening the human and institutional resources so as to help Nepalese to involve themselves in the production of the Flora. In the temperate areas, you will find the plants blooming just when winter has come to an end. The best time for them to bloom is the monsoon season. At this hour you will find the landscape surrounded by vibrant colored flowers such as the polygonums, buttercups, mints, scrophs, composites and cinquefoils. The main season for the blossoming of the flowers is the April and March.