Singalila National Park, Darjeeling – Flora

Singalila National Park, Darjeeling – Flora

The national park comprises of three separate biomes ranging from subalpine to subtropical, and three corresponding ecoregions namely Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests ecoregion, of the temperate coniferous forests biome, Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests ecoregion, of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and Himalayan subtropical pine forests ecoregion, of the subtropical coniferous forest biome. The subtropical biome roughly exists in the elevation range of 1800 to 3000 m, and the temperate biome exists in the elevation range of 3000 m to 4500 m.

Thick bamboo, oak, magnolia, and rhododendron forest between 2000 and 3600 m cover the Singalila Ridge. Some of the other trees found here are Pine Hemlock, Silver Fir, Juniper, Mailing Bamboo, Buk, Kawla, Bhujpatra etc. There are two seasons of wildflower bloom. One in spring (March and April) when the rhododendrons bloom, and another in the post-monsoon season (around October), when the lower forests bloom (Primula, Geranium, Saxifraga, Bistort, Senecio, Cotoneaster and numerous orchids).

Sandakphu is known as the mountain of poisonous plants due to the large concentration of Himalayan cobra lilies (Arisaema) which grow there. Of the 25 species of rhododendron discovered by Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in the Himalayas, 18 can be found in Singalila National Park. More than 600 species of orchids bloom during the autumn season in Singalila. It is the largest concentration of orchids in any single geographical area in the world. The orchidarium of Lloyd Botanical Garden at Darjeeling houses as many as 2,500 orchids, which include 50 rare varieties. Most of these have been brought here from Singalila National Park.