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Himalayan Red Bells
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Himalayan Red Bells
ative Photo: Ratna Ghosh
Common name: Himalayan Red Bells, Himalayan Enkianthus • Nepali: रातो आङेरी Rato angeri
Botanical name: Enkianthus deflexus    Family: Ericaceae (Blueberry family)
Synonyms: Enkianthus himalaicus, Rhodora deflexa

Himalayan Red Bells is a deciduous large shrub or small tree, growing to 6 m tall. It has oval, bright green leaves with felted undersides which turn orange and red in autumn. It is an open habit shrub with numerous short, spraying clusters of small bell shaped flowers on long hanging stalks in spring and early summer. The beautiful, small bell flowers are pink tinged cream in colour with broad petals. They are 1-2 cm across, with 5 short blunt petals. Sepals are lance-shaped, 2-3 mm long. Fruit is a broadly elliptic capsule. Himalayan Red Bells is found in forests and shrubberies of Himalayas, from E. Nepal to Burma, at altitudes of 2500-3300 m. Flowering: May-June.

Identification credit: Ratna Ghosh, Susmita Basu Photographed in Yumthang Valley, Sikkim.

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