Plants of Humla

These plants grow in the belts this district spans. Not all have been individually recorded here.

• Jatamansi

  Nardostachys jatamansi

  High Mountains · High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  A high-mountain herb with a hairy root that smells deeply of earth and wood. It has been traded across Asia for two thousand years.

  Almost gone

  Recorded here

• Panch Aunle

  Dactylorhiza hatagirea

  High Mountains · High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  A small purple orchid whose root looks like a tiny human hand — five fingers, which is exactly what its name means.

  Almost gone

  Recorded here

• Chiraito

  Swertia chirayita

  Middle Hills · High Mountains

  A bitter mountain herb used for fever. Many hill families earn real money growing it — which is why growing it matters more than digging it.

  At risk

  Grows in this belt

• Himalayan Birch

  Betula utilis

  High Mountains · High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  The last tree you meet before the mountain becomes rock and snow. Ancient books were written on its papery bark.

  Doing okay

  Grows in this belt

• Himalayan Juniper

  Juniperus indica

  High Mountains · High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  A low, tough shrub burned as incense in mountain homes and monasteries. Its smoke smells like cold clean air.

  Doing okay

  Grows in this belt

• Himalayan Yew

  Taxus wallichiana

  High Mountains · High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  A slow, dark mountain tree whose bark contains a medicine used to treat cancer. That discovery nearly wiped it out.

  In real danger

  Grows in this belt

• Lali Gurans

  Rhododendron arboreum

  Middle Hills · High Mountains

  Nepal’s national flower. When the hills turn red in spring, this is the tree doing it.

  Doing okay

  Grows in this belt

• Sunpati

  Rhododendron anthopogon

  High Himal & Trans-Himalaya

  A tiny cousin of the gurans that grows above the treeline, in cushions low enough to hide from the wind.

  Doing okay

  Grows in this belt