Acantholimon - Waldheimia

Acantholimon (Plumbaginaceae)

The following species of ACANTHOLIMON have been recorded from Ladakh: LYCOPODIOIDES

ACANTHOLIMON LYCOPODIOIDES

FOR SUMMARY OF DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERISTICS SEE THE FOLLOWING TWO 'SLIDES'

ACANTHOLIMON LYCOPODIOIDES

Stewart recorded this as the commonest, indeed the only 'Himalayan' species, growing in the Artemisia association and forming large cushions on barren hillsides in Ladakh @ 3650-5800m.

Photographed at Kangi, Ladakh by Aaron Pérez-Haase © Aaron Pérez-Haase 2013

Stewart described this as a remarkable sharp-leaves, tufted plant, common on the passes in Ladakh.

Photographed at Kangi, Ladakh by Aaron Pérez-Haase © Aaron Pérez-Haase 2013

This specimen was photographed on a dry slope in the Upper Indus Valley, Ladakh in 2012.

Chris Chadwell pictured on Fotu La - its arid slopes are typical habitat for ACANTHOLIMON LYCOPODIOIDES

Specimens vary in the wild (as they would in cultivation) with the best being tight and compact but others being more open, even rather straggly. It is thus useful to show examples such as above, which are not so showy.

SPECIES OF ACANTHOLIMON RECORDED FROM NORTH-WEST HIMALAYA:

A.lycopodioides (Girard) Boiss. (syn. Statice lycopodioides Girard)