Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 479 > Zingiberaceae > Etlingera

2. Etlingera coccinea (Blume) S.Sakai & Nagam.wfo-0000415523

Edinburgh J. Bot. 60: 190. 2003; Poulsen, Etlingera of Borneo: 88. 2006; Gard. Bull. Singapore 59: 147. 2007.— Geanthus coccineus Reinw. nom. nud., Catalogus: 29. 1823.— Elettaria coccinea Blume, Enum. Pl. Javae 1: 53. 1827.— Alpinia coccinea (Blume) D.Dietr., Syn. Pl. 1: 12. 1839.— Cardamomum coccineum (Blume) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 685. 1891.— Amomum coccineum (Blume) Benth. & Hook.f. [Gen. Pl. 3: 644. 1883, nom. inval.] ex B.D.Jacks., Index Kew. 1: 108. 1893; K.Schum., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 27: 305. 1899.— Achasma coccineum (Blume) Valeton, Bull. Inst. Bot. Buitenzorg 20: 93. 1904. Plate LVII: B.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Rhizome long-creeping, 2.5–4 cm diam., scales to 6 cm long; stilt roots absent. Leafy shoots to 5 m long, to 1 m between neighbouring leafy shoots, with up to 32 leaves per shoot; base to 8–12 cm diam., green or reddish brown; sheath pale orange, striate, ± reticulate (especially when young), glabrous or slightly pubescent especially on cross ribs, margin ciliate; ligule to 1–1.5 cm long, entire, apex rounded, green to purplish brown, ± pubescent, margin ciliate; blade sessile to subsessile, oblong-obovate, to 91–130 by 17–23 cm, length to width ratio 4–5.7, smooth or sometimes with slightly raised veins, plain green, young leaf reddish brown beneath, glabrous, base cuneate, sometimes irregularly winged, apex acuminate 1.5 cm; margin often hairy lump at very base of leaf. Flowering shoot to 25 cm long (rarely longer), arising from rhizome near base, receptacle ca 0.5 cm long, apex inflated and rounded, with 15–34 flowers, 4–14 open at a time; peduncle subterranean, ascending from rhizome, 2–12 cm long, ± sericeous; peduncular bracts to 5.5 cm long, upper enclosing base of spike, cream to pale brown or pale green, shiny, mucronate; spike deeply embedded in the ground, 8–11 cm long (including flowers), flowers extending 2–4 cm above bracts; spike only including bracts ovoid-cylindrical, 6–8 by 3–5 cm; sterile bracts: 4–5 forming a dense support, to 4–6 by 1.5–3 cm, cream or ± pale reddish brown, sometimes only at apex, shiny, cream, margin pale brown, scattered to densely pubescent especially near base and apex, margin ciliate; fertile bracts 4–7 by 0.7–1.5 cm, spathulate, membranous, cream, pale red or brown especially at apex, near base and apex, ± elsewhere, pedicel to 3 mm long, below bracteole, densely pubescent; bracteoles 3.8–5 cm long, white tinged red at apex, ± pubescent, apex bidentate, ciliate. Flower 10.5–12.5 cm long; ovary 5 by 4 mm, hirsute, pale brown; style 7.2–8.5 cm long, sparsely pubescent, flexistylous, white tinged ± red towards apex; stigma 2.5–3 mm wide, red, rounded pentagular, ± hairy, ostiole slit-like, transverse 2.5 mm; epigynous gland 5–7 mm long, bilaminate, apices rounded, irregularly warty, white, apex glabrous, shortly pointed; calyx 6.3–8.3 cm long, reaching to 3 mm below base of stamen and 1.5–2 cm short of apex of corolla lobes, white tinged red at apex, sparsely pubescent near apex, apex trilobed, ciliate, each lobe with a subapical mucro 0.5 mm long; floral tube 4.9–6.8 cm long, cream, glabrous outside, tube inside with an irregular band ca 1 cm wide ca 2 cm below labellum incision; lobes pale pink darker towards apex, glabrous, reaching 1–2 cm longer than calyx, dorsal lobe hiding stamen and stigma, dorsal lobe 2.1–3.1 by 0.9–1.1 cm, elliptic, apex rounded, lateral lobes 2–2.5 by 0.4–0.7 cm, elliptic, apex rounded; staminal tube 0.4–1.2 cm long, pale red; labellum trilobed, central much extended, angled ca 120° to tube, 5–6.5 by 2.1–2.5 cm, yellow in centre, glabrous, lateral lobes folded over stamen, pale to dark red at margin, margin finely crisped, especially at apex, central lobe ca 3 by 1.4–1.6 cm, retuse or emarginate to 1.5 cm, rarely entire, dark red, extending 4–5 cm beyond anther; stamen 1.2 cm long, red; filament 3–7 by 2–5 mm, widest at base, winged; anther 8.5–10 by 2.5–6 mm (widest at apex), emarginate 2.5 mm, angled 120–135°, margin at apex a pronounced raised ridge > 1 mm wide, ± recurved, thecae dehiscent 1.5 mm from base, glabrous or slightly hairy. Infructescence embedded in the soil, head globose, to 12 cm across, bracts persistent, with 5–15 fruits per head; pedicel to 2–3 mm long, pubescent; fruit to 4.5 by 3.5 cm, pyriform, flat-topped with irregular radiating roughly papillose ridges to 6 mm high, brownish (red when young), pubescent; seeds 2–3 mm across.

Thailand : PENINSULAR: Trang, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat.

Distribution : Brunei, Indonesia (Java – type), Malaysia, the Philippines.

Ecology : Evergreen forests, 150–600 m alt.

Notes: This species is easily distinguished from other ground-flowering species with long yellow and red flowers by having almost sessile leaves, the broad pink dorsal corolla lobe that covers the stamen and a yellow labellum with red, inrolled margin. Only a few pickled collections have been made in Thailand and most of the description above is based on those collected in Borneo and Java (Poulsen 2006, 2007).