| Evergreen Laburnum |
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Botanical name: Piptanthus nepalensis Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonyms: Baptisia nepalensis, Piptanthus bicolor, Thermopsis laburnifolia
Synonyms: Baptisia nepalensis, Piptanthus bicolor, Thermopsis laburnifolia
Evergreen Laburnum is a distinctive laburnum like shrub, 3-4 m tall, with
dark green shining bark, trifoliate leaves with narrow pointed leaflets,
and large bright yellow flowers in short hairy clusters at the end of
branches. Flowers are 2.5-3 cm across - the standard petal has a rounded,
reflexed blade and a long stalk. Sepal cup is bell-shaped with large,
unequal, blunt sepals, which are grey-hairy. Bracts are elliptic, densely
woolly-haired. Leaflets are lance-shaped, 3-10 cm long, dark green above
and grey-hairy beneath. The underside of the leaflets becomes hairless
gradually. Evergreen Laburnum is found in the forests and shrubberies of
the Himalayas, from Himachal Pradesh to SW China, at altitudes of
2100-3600. Flowering: March-May.
Identification credit: Ratna Ghosh
| Photographed at Lachen, Sikkim. |