Kencho Dorji

• Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan

Bhutan is endowed with rich biodiversity with several edible and useful fern species. Ferns have been used by local communities for centuries as vegetables, ethnobo-tanical artifacts, and as medicines. Owing to the limited study of edible and useful pterido-phytes in the country, the knowledgebase remains poor. In this study, we attempt to document...

Through the collection of herbarium specimens in Bhutan over the years, new plant species are discovered nearly annually. Thus, this paper reports two new genera and 19 new records of flowering plant species from Bhutan. The new genera include Eurycorymbus of the family Sapindaceae and Homalium of the family Salicaceae. The new records of plant spe...

We conducted a study to evaluate the perception of farmers towards invasive plant species, and the impact of invasive plants on local livelihoods in Punakha and Samtse Dzongkhags. Data were collected from 291 respondents selected through stratified random sampling using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 11 invasive plant species were reco...

During a recent field trip in Wangdue Dzongkhag, few medium sized flowering trees were observed by roadside along Dangchhu river valley near Chuzomsa, and additionally from Phochhu in Puna-kha. The species was identified as Rhaphiolepis bengalensis (Roxb.) B.B.Liu & J.Wen, which is a new record of plant to Bhutan. Formerly, the species was known as...

Five flavonols were isolated from the whitish flowers of Primula alpicola and P. sikkimensis var. hopeana which belong to the section Sikkimensis in Bhutan. Flavonoid composition of two Primula species were qualitatively the same and they were identified as quercetin 3-O-xylosyl-(12)-[rhamnosyl-(16)-glucoside] (1), quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (2), que...

Blue flowers of six Bhutani Meconopsis species, M. bhutanica, M. bella, M. horridula, M. simplicifolia, M. primulina and M. polygonoides, were surveyed for anthocyanins and other flavonoids. Four anthocyanins were isolated and identified as cyanidin 3-O-sambubioside-7-O-glucoside (1), cyanidin 3-O-[xylosyl-(1 → 2)-(6″-malonylgluco-side)]-7-O-glucos...

Two flavonol glycosides were isolated from the yellow flowers of Bhutani Himalayan Meconopsis paniculata, together with other two minor flavonol glycosides. They were identified as 6-hydroxykaempferol 3-O-glucoside and 6-hydroxykaempferol 3-O-sophoroside by UV, LC-MS, acid hydrolysis and 1H and 13C NMR. Two minor flavonol glycosides were identified...

Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is a relatively new concept in the country since it came to the forefront only after the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol in 2010. While there have been several efforts to create awareness on ABS till date, the need to provide holistic information on ABS under one window for the effective implementation of the ABS re...

Lists and photograph of major invasive plant species of Bhutan.

Three anthocyanins were isolated from the red flowers of Meconopsis wallichi in Bhutan. They were characterized as cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, cyanidin 3-O-sambubioside and cyanidin 3-O-(succinylsambubioside) by UV-VIS, LC-MS, acid hydrolysis, alkaline saponification, and HPLC comparisons with authentic samples. The latter anthocyanin was reported in n...

Flower pigments of Black Pea (Thermopsis barbata) sampled from alpine zone in western Bhutan were surveyed. Major anthocyanins of the blackish flowers were delphinidin 3-O-glucoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and petunidin 3-O-glucoside together with some minor anthocyanins and other flavonoids. Interestingly, chlorogenic acid was also found from the...

Background Comprehensive biotic surveys, or ‘all taxon biodiversity inventories’ (ATBI), have traditionally been limited in scale or scope due to the complications surrounding specimen sorting and species identification. To circumvent these issues, several ATBI projects have successfully integrated DNA barcoding into their identification procedures...