Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 358 > Zingiberaceae > Amomum

1. Amomum biphyllum (Saensouk & P.Saensouk) Škorničk. & Hlavatáwfo-0001426286

Taxon 67(1): 19. 2018.— Elettariopsis biphylla Saensouk & P.Saensouk, Phytotaxa 159(1): 23. 2014.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Creeping herb ca 30 cm tall; rhizomes creeping, slender, bearing pseudostems at intervals. Bladeless leaf 1; ligule 1–2 mm, apex bilobed, glabrescent; blades 2, lanceolate-oblong or elliptic, 20–30 by 5–10 cm, both surfaces glabrous, dark green above, lighter green below, margin entire to slightly undulate, base attenuate, apex acuminate or mucronate; petiole 9–12 cm, glabrous, green, channelled. Inflorescence arising between bases of pseudostems, flowers in dense, erect heads; peduncle 0.6–1.2 cm; bracts 6–8, lanceolate, light pink, ca 2 by 0.7 cm; bracteoles lanceolate, 1.5 by 3.5 mm. Flower: ovary 2–5 by 2–4 mm, pubescent; stigma triangular, ostiole ciliate, inconspicuous; epigynous glands slender, 5–6 by ca 1 mm, not surrounding style; calyx tubular, 2.7–3 cm, usually longer than floral tube, pinkish to reddish white with yellowish apex, lobes 3, yellowish; dorsal corolla lobe pinkish to reddish, oblong, ca 1.8 by 1 cm, hooded, lateral corolla lobes pinkish to reddish, oblong, ca 1.8 by 0.7 cm, slightly hooded; lateral staminodes absent; labellum suborbicular, ca 2.5 by 2 cm, white with dark red band at base and yellow band in centre, hairy towards throat, base clawed, 5–8 mm, veins dark red, apex trilobed, median lobe crenate, sometimes slightly emarginate; stamen: filament short, ca 5 by 3 mm, yellowish; anther ca 4 by 3 mm, anther crest ca 3 by 2 mm, whitish, apex obtuse. Fruits not seen.

Thailand : NORTH-EASTERN: Bueng Kan (Bung Khla, Phu Wua WS – type: Saensouk 400, holotype -BK, isotypes -BKF KKU QBG).

Ecology : Evergreen forests. Flowering: March–May.

Notes: This species has two distinctive leaves and dark red veins in parts of the labellum. The morphological characters of Amomum biphyllum are similar to those of A. monophyllum but it differs in its two leaves, dark red veins in parts of the labellum and length of petioles, the pseudostem and the apex of the anther crest.