Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 490 > Zingiberaceae > Etlingera

8. Etlingera littoralis (J.Koenig) Gisekewfo-0000415636

Prael. Ord. Nat. Pl.: 251. 1792.— Amomum littorale J.Koenig, Observ. Bot. 3: 52. 1783; Baker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 239. 1892; Schumann, Pflanzenr. IV, 46 (Heft 20): 234. 1904; Burtt & Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 31: 194. 1972.— Cardamomum littorale (J.Koenig) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 686. 1891. Plate LVIII: A.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Rhizome moderately to long-creeping, 1–3 cm diam., cream, ± sericeous, scales to 8 cm long, caducous, ovate, pointed, shortly mucronate, striate, shiny, brownish, sericeous at the very base; stilt roots absent. Leafy shoots to 2–6 m long, 30–110 cm between neighbouring leafy shoots, with up to 30–40 leaves per shoot; base to 5–9 cm diam., green (purplish brown when young); sheath ± yellowish green or brownish green, ± striate, slightly areolate below ligule, glabrous, young shoot ± tomentose, margin membranous, glabrous; ligule to 1–1.6 cm long, entire, apex narrowly rounded, slightly asymmetrical, pale green tinged ± reddish brown, sericeous in lower centre, ± pubescent towards apex (absent with age), margin ciliate at apex; petiole to 1–3 cm long, canaliculate, green to brown, ± sericeous adaxially at base; blade narrowly elliptic to oblong, to 58–105 by 10–15 cm, length to width ratio 5–7, smooth, glabrous, beneath ± tomentose along midrib, base cuneate to rounded, oblique, apex acuminate (ca 1–2 cm), margin ± undulate, ± ciliate especially in upper part. Flowering shoot 8.5–15(–30) cm long, arising from rhizome up to 45 cm from base of leafy shoot, receptacle semiglobose, convex, 0.5–1.2 cm long, with 15–31 flowers, 1–13 open at a time; peduncle subterranean, ascending, 1.2–10(–20) cm long, ± sericeous; peduncular bracts to 4–6 by 2.5–4.5 cm, upper enclosing base of spike, obovate or ovate, cream or pale rose, pubescent in lower half especially near base, margin ciliate, apex acute, shortly mucronate; spike partly embedded in soil, subglobose to broadly ovoid, 7–8 cm long (including flowers), flowers extending vertically 2–3 cm above bracts (apex of labellum distanced 4.5–5 cm from apex of supporting bracts); spike only including bracts obovoid, 4–6 by 3–5 cm; sterile bracts: 0(–2), lower to 4.5–5 by 1.6–2.5 cm, obovate, cucullate, brownish to reddish rarely dark red, puberulous in lower half; fertile bracts 4.5–6.5 by 0.7–2.2 cm, to 0.4–0.5 cm longer than bracteole, narrowly obovate, margin membranous in upper part, apex narrowly rounded, torn, translucent white with pink or reddish brown apices, ± pubescent especially in lower half and at apex, upper margin ciliate; pedicel 0.5–2 mm long, below bracteole (fused in lowermost part), sericeous; bracteoles 3.5–5 cm long, translucent white, pale pink in upper ¼, sparsely pubescent in lower half, along veins and at apex, apex bidentate, apices acute, ciliate, 1.5–2.5 cm short of apex of calyx. Flower 9–10.3 cm long; ovary 4–7 by 3–6 mm, cream, densely sericeous; style 6–6.5 cm long, cream tinged ± red at apex, ± tomentose in upper 1.5–2 cm; stigma 2.5–3.5 mm wide, cream to pale pink or red, roundly pentangular to clavate with an adaxial prominent callus, with a few scattered erect hairs, ostiole narrowly elliptic, transverse, 2.1–3 mm, facing down- or forwards; epigynous gland 4.4–7 mm long, bilobed, pointed, split to base above and partly from apex below, cream, glabrous; calyx 5–6.7 cm long, reaching base or apex of anther and -3 to +5 mm relative to dorsal corolla lobe apex, cream in lower ⅓, pale red above, darkest at apex, with appressed hairs near base, apex tridentate, teeth close together, apex ciliate; floral tube 4.2–5.5 cm long, cream, reddish in upper part, glabrous or with a few scattered appressed hairs near base and apex, tube inside pubescent above in staminal tube and 2 cm below insertion of dorsal lobe externally, abaxially in a 1 cm patch below insertion of lateral lobe incision outside; lobes membranous pale red, dorsal lobe darker in centre, glabrous, apex ciliate, reaching to about middle of anther but not covering it, dorsal lobe 1.6–2.3 by 0.6–0.9 cm, ovate, broadest at base or narrowly obovate, apex rounded, lateral lobes 1.6–2 by 0.4–0.5 cm, oblong to narrowly elliptic, apex rounded; staminal tube 4–9 mm long, white or tinged ± pale red; sparsely tomentose, rarely glabrous; labellum narrowly ovate (to slightly hourglass-shaped), angled 115–160° to the tube, 4.3–5.4 by 2.2–2.8 cm, broadest across lateral lobes, red to dark red and thickened in centre, glabrous, lateral lobes erect on sides of stamen, margin red, pink, yellow or cream, ca 3 mm wide, ± revolute, sometimes slightly auriculate at base, central lobe apex slightly retuse to emarginate 0.6–1.5 cm, extending 2.2–3.2 cm beyond anther, margin yellow or cream, repand; stamen 1.9–2.1 cm long; filament 0.7–1.1 by 0.5–0.9(–1.1) cm, canaliculate, glabrous or variously pubescent above, cream tinged ± rose, darker at apex; anther 10–13 by 6.5–9.5 mm, broadest in upper half or at apex, recurved, emarginate 2.5–4.5 mm, outer corners ± spreading, tomentose at base adaxially, angled to ± erect (160–180°), shiny, red: darker in centre and at apex, margin a raised sharp ridge, ± minutely sinuate laterally, thecae dehiscent in upper ⅔ to ¾ (rarely through most of upper part), for 0.4–0.7(–1.1) cm from (2–)3–3.5 mm above base to 0–1 mm from apex, glabrous, slightly tomentose at base. Infructescence embedded in ground; peduncle subterranean, ascending, 10–13 cm long, peduncular bracts brown, persistent, striate, shiny, glabrous, head 6–7 by 9–10.5 cm, hemispherical, bracts persistent but pressed aside, base of calyx ± persistent (1–3 mm), with 22–28 fruits per head; pedicel to 2–4 mm long. Fruit 3.5–4.5 by 2.5–3.7 cm, angled pyriform, upper half with irregular wings or ridges radiating from apex, apex truncate or depressed, reddish to dark brown when mature, pubescent; seeds 2.5–4 by 2.5–3 mm, rounded-angular, subellipsoid.

Thailand : SOUTH-WESTERN: Uthai Thani, Phetchaburi; SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi; PENINSULAR: Ranong, Surat Thani, Phangnga, Phuket (type: Koenig s.n., 4 June 1779, presumed lost), Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Distribution : Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar (type of Hornstedtia sulfurea).

Ecology : forests, 10–875 m alt.

Vernacular : Put chang (ปุดช้าง)(Peninsular).

Uses: Inflorescence edible.

Notes: The circumscription of Etlingera littoralis is considerably narrower in the present account than previously perceived by other taxonomists and its distribution does not include China. Burtt and Smith (1986) did not have any collections from near the type locality at Phuket and considered Achasma megalocheilos (see below) a synonym. Vegetatively these species are indeed similar and both may, as Burtt & Smith (1986) pointed out, have a yellow-edged labellum but E. littoralis differs from E. megalocheilos in the shorter labellum (43–54 vs 57–70 mm), the longer stamen (19–21 vs 14–16 mm), the broader filament (5–9(–11) vs 3.5–5 mm) and the broader anther (6.5–9.5 vs to 6 mm) the apex of which is more deeply emarginate (2.5–4.5 mm vs 1–1.5 mm) with spreading corners. Both species display variation in the coloration of the labellum.

In Peninsular Thailand, the labellum of Etlingera littoralis is red with a broad bright yellow or cream margin. Flowers in populations of the south-western region have either a yellow margin to the lip or are plain red. On Khao Soi Dao, Chanthaburi, the flowers are plain red at 450 m and plain cream-coloured at 875 m. At 720 m altitude in the nearby Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia, the flowers are also plain cream-coloured.