Cornukaempferia, a New Genus of Zingiberaceae from Thailand

6 Pages·1997·0.24 MB·English

by  Mood, John

NAT. HIST. BULL. SIAM Soc. 45: 217-221，19 97
CORNUKAEMPFERlA，A NEWG ENUS OFZ INGffiERACEAE
FROM THAILAND
lohn Mood1a nd Kai Larsen2
ABSTRACT
Comu初em]J.伽iaaurantiflora gen. et sp. nov. from百回l釦dis described and illustrated.
問τRODUCτ10N
Thes tudy of血eZingiberaceae of SE Asia has been intensified during recent yeぽsas
more collectors have been taking p制 in出eexplor副onof hitherto un侃 ploredregions of
Malaysia，In donesia and Brunei. It is therefore not surprising that several new旬xahave
been described recently. Most astonishing，h owever，is the discovery of this unusual plant
企'Om百lailand，ar ather well-collected coun町 wherethe second author has worked and
collected Zingiberaceae for more than 40 ye (LARSEN，19 96). It has not been possible
釘's
to place this collection in佃 yof the known genera without s甘etchingthe circumscription
beyond the acceptable. Wet herefore propose the following new genus of Zingiberaceae
belonging to the Hedychieae.
Cornukaempferia J. Mood & K. Larsen gen. nov.
Diagnosis: Genus Hedychioidearum，a K aempferia d明'ertlabello integro，a B oesenbergia
differt crista anthera grande angusta curvata，e t evolutione florale acropetale
inflorescentiarum.
官邸 genus，belonging to出eHedychioideae，de viates from Kaempferia in the entire
labellum and企'OmBoesenbergia in the 1釘ge，narrow，cu rved an白ercrest佃 d由eacropetal
floral development.
An acaulescent herb. Leaves few，di stichous. Inflorescence terminal，d eveloping
acroscopically; bracts spirally紅ranged，suppo此ingone flower each; bracteoles absent.
Calyx tubular，3 ・dentate;corolla tube short，l obes subequal，t he dorsal one larger; lateral
staminodes conspicuous，仕'ee;labellum broad，un divided; stamen with short filament，佃.ther
with connective produced into al ong，n arrow，c urved crest，n o basal spurs. Ovary 3-
loculed with 2a pical，e pigynous gl ds.Fruit unknown.
佃
官】egenus is monotypic.
IWa imea Arboretum and Botanica1 Garden，59 -864 Karn Highway，H a1eiwa，Ha waii 96712，U. S.A.
2D ep釘伽lentof Systematic Botany，Un iversity of Aarhus，No rdlandsv吋68，DK8 240 Risskov，De nrnark.
Received 26 August 1997; accepted 19 November 1997.
217
218 JOHN MOOD AND KAI LARSEN
Type species: C. aurantiflora J. Mood & K. Larsen.
Distribution: Thailand.
Cornukaempfe巾， aurantijloraJ. Mood & K. Larsen
Type: Mood 96P24 (holotype AAU). Cultivated plant from Bangkok Market.
Low rhizomatous herb. Rhizome c. 15-20 mmd iam.，wh ite with ay ellow core; tubers
c. 1x 8 c m，y ellow with al ight brown core，s lightly aromatic and bitter. Leaves 2-3，
initially developing vertically，la ter becoming more horizontal to the soil，bu t elevated.
Leaf shea出 c.3-10 cm; ligule short，2 -4 mm，em arginate; petiole 5-11 cm，gr een with a
medium pu中leband; larnina broadly ov蹴 tosuborbicul紅， 20ー25x 14-15 cm; upper
surface green with silvery markings between the veins，gl abrous with raised veins，l ower
surface dark purple with long，wh ite hairs; m ginundulating. Inflorescence few-flowered;
紅
bracts lanceolate，a cuminate，g reenish with pink apex，l ower one c. 5c m diminishing
upwards; calyx tube c. 13 mm，te eth 7-9 mm; corolla tube 25-30 mm; lobes dark reddish-
orange; lateral lobes 40 x7 m m，d orsal one c. 50 mml ong，1 0 mma t base gradually
tapering to血ecucculate apex，m argin incurved; lateral starninodes orange，o blanceolate
with undulating margin，3 0 x1 3 mm; labellum or gewith red lines at base，b roadly
組
deltoid，sa ccate，wi th undulating margin; stam印刷出veryshort filament，佃therc. 15 mm
long，o pening longi加dinally，connective produced凶oal ong，n arrow，f orwards curved
crest，10 -13 mml ong similar to the crest found in Zingiber. Ovary ellipsoid，sh ortly hairy，
c. 10 mml ong. Ripe fruits not seen.
百lename Cornukaempferia was chosen as the large“，hom-shaped" anther crest shows
as triking resemblance with the an出erappendage ch紅acterizingZingiber.
Relationship: Cornukaempferia is undoubtedly related to Kaempj甘I'a，ag enus that has
also am ore or less procuced anther crest白紙howeveralways is flat and often 2-dentate，
never “Zingiber" -like. After the separation of出egenus Caulokaempferia，t he remaining
members of Kaempferia have al abellum白紙istypically deeply bilobed.百leflowers are
also white to violet. In spite of the very special組曲erstructure，th ere seems to be no
relationship with the genus Zingiber.百legenus Kaempferia is also characterized by an
usually bifid bracteole，w hile bracteoles are absent in Cornukaempferia.
Remarks: This remarkable species was first found for sale at aB angkok market. Due to
its qualities as an omamental plant，it has spread rapidly nongZingiberaceae enthusiasts
創
and is now in cultivation in Thail叩 d，白eU.S.A. and Australia. Recently the frrst wild
collection of this new tonwas documented by M. Sizemore & J. Banta coll. no. 96810.
拡 ・
Their material was collected from NE Thailand: Petchabun Province: S. of Route 12
between Lom Sak and Khon San，1 641.90 N，1 01 37.28 E，al t. 765 m，g rowing in
0 0
medium-heavy shade in black，o rganic soil in secondary forest.百liscollection is in
culture with the frrst author in Hawaii，h erbarium material is deposited at AAU.
Cornukaempferia aurantiflora is undoubtedly ar are species and meas shouldbe
町田
taken to conserve ywild population.
佃
COI?NUKAEMPFEI?IA. A NEW GENUS OF ZINGIBERACEAE FROM THAILAND 219
I
A
Scm
1/! I
. \
1/ I i
~-~.
'1'7.
Figure I. Comukaempf'eria aum11ti{lora. A. Plant with one lear removed. B. Flower seen in front view. C.
Flower in side view.
220 JOHN MOOD AND KAt LARSEN
Figure 2. Comukae111pj"eria aum111i{lora. Plant grown in Hawaii. Photos J. Mood.
CORNUKAEMPFERIA. A NEWG ENUS OF ZINGIBERACEAE FROM THAILAND 221
Horticultural note:百lefollowing notes on growth habit have been taken from pot
cultures of pl tsgrown in Hawaii，U. S.A. by the first author. After ad ormant period of
組
4-5m onths，ne w grow白 commencesin April. Soon after the frrst stems maωre，fl owering
begins from the termina1 inf10rescence which is sunken between the leaf petioles. Norma11y
1-2 of the flowers open in the morning and wither later in the day. F10wering lasts
approximately 7d ays based on由e牛6or more flowers per inf1orescence. After the
flowering of血efirst shoot ar enewed period of grow出beginswith many new shoots from
the rhizome. On1ya f ew of these will develop an inflorescence and flower. A 10 cm
rhizome will often produce 8-10 pseudostems during ag rowing season，fo rming ar obust
c1ump 30 cm or more ta11a nd 30 cm wide.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
τ
'hea uthors wish to thank Dr B. Ollgaard for latinizing the diagnosis. Mr. J. C. Schou
skillfully prep釘edthe line drawings after the origina1 sketches made by血efirst author
from living materia1 cultivated in Hawaii.
REFERENCE
LARS聞.K. 1996. A preliminary checklist of血eZingiberaceae ofτ'hail組 d.Thai Forest Bull. 24: 35-49.