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10 plants worth knowing

Nepal

Over a distance of only about 200 km, Nepal rises from less than 100 m above sea level in the Terai lowlands to 8,849 m on the summit of Mount Everest, so it contains almost every vegetation zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In the south grow tropical sal forests, in the middle hills oak–rhododendron and pine forests, higher up birch and fir forests, and below the glaciers alpine meadows; the country has more than 6,000 species of flowering plants.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

plants in our catalogue; native and endemic according to WCVP (Kew) · source
  1. Tree rhododendron 1

    tree · National flower of Nepal, a motif on the national coat of arms

    native

    Tree rhododendron

    Rhododendron arboreum

    In spring Himalayan slopes blaze scarlet with lali gurans – a rhododendron that in Nepal is a tree, not a shrub.
  2. Sal 2

    tree

    native

    Sal

    Shorea robusta

    Sal forms the great forests of the Terai, home to rhinos and tigers – and tradition says the Buddha was born beneath one of its branches.
  3. Lokta 3

    shrub

    native

    Lokta

    Daphne bholua

    The bark of this shrub is made into handmade lokta paper, on which Nepalese documents and books have been written for centuries.
  4. Black cardamom 4

    crop

    native

    Black cardamom

    Amomum subulatum

    Nepal is the world’s largest producer of black cardamom – a smoky-flavoured spice dried over an open fire.
  5. Himalayan birch 5

    tree

    native

    Himalayan birch

    Betula utilis

    The Himalayan birch marks the upper treeline, and its papery bark was once used to write sacred texts.
  6. Sacred fig 6

    tree

    native

    Sacred fig

    Ficus religiosa

    A tree sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, planted in pairs with the banyan on chautara stone platforms where travellers rest.
  7. Rice 7

    crop

    cultivated

    Rice

    Oryza sativa

    Dal bhat – rice with lentils – is eaten twice a day in Nepal, and in Jumla rice is grown at altitudes of up to 3,000 m.
  8. Tea plant 8

    crop

    cultivated

    Tea plant

    Camellia sinensis

    The green tea terraces of Ilam, next door to India’s Darjeeling, produce Nepalese leaf teas prized around the world.
  9. Finger millet 9

    crop

    cultivated

    Finger millet

    Eleusine coracana

    A mountain cereal whose flour makes thick dhido, while its fermented grain becomes tongba beer, sipped through a bamboo straw.
  10. Timur 10

    shrub

    native

    Timur

    Zanthoxylum armatum

    A thorny shrub whose fruit gives a citrusy, tongue-numbing “Nepali pepper” – indispensable in achar pickles and momo sauces.