Bhutan has a very rich species of flora ranging from altitudes as low as 200m to as high as 4000m. Over 5500 species of vascular plants have been recorded till date including 46 species of Rhododendrons and 369 species of Orchids. The Bhutan Himalayas is also important source of valuable medicinal plants used in ayurvedic medicine so much so that a National Institute of Traditional Medicine has been established at Thimphu . Blue Poppy is one of the many flowers found abundantly in Bhutan . Dochula Pass is one of the main places in Bhutan where you flowers thrive. As one arrives at the pass the air is heady with the scent of Daphne, a small shrub with fragrant white flowers, covering the the slopes where a myriad of colorful prayer flags stand. The Daphne bark is used to make traditional Bhutanese paper, which has the rare characteristic of being termite proof and thus highly valued for writing religious scriptures. A little further on, vivid bursts of scarlet amidst the dense forest signal the first rhododendrons. Then, etched against the brilliant blue winter sky are the magnificent white blossoms of the Magnolia Campbelli adorning the tall, leafless trees. The magnolias and the rhodies will continue to flower for the next two months. The scarlet rhodies being succeeded by other varieties: deep and pale pink, lavender, white, yellow, and orange. Some 54 varieties of this magnificent species are found in Bhutan .

Bhutan's forest are divided into the Alpine Zone (4000m and above) where there is no forest cover, the Temperate Zone falling between 2000 to 4000m with conifer or broadleaf forests, and the Subtropical Zone with Tropical or Subtropical vegetation from an elevation of 150m to 2000m. Forest types include Fir Forests, Mixed Conifer Forest ; Blue Pine Forest Chirpine Forest , Broadleaf mixed with Conifer, Upland Hardwood Forest , Lowland Hardwood Forest , and Tropical Lowland Forests .

More than 60 percent of the endemic plant species of the Eastern Himalayas can be found within Bhutan.Of the 5,500 known species of vascular plants, 50 or more are endemic to Bhutan itself. Although a comprehensive description of Bhutanese flora is yet to be formulated, it is accepted that several species are highly valuable for their conservation properties. These include some for alkaloids and medicinal properties, some as wild gene pools for crop research, and those that are potentials horticultural crops.