Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 412 > Zingiberaceae > Cornukaempferia

1. Cornukaempferia aurantiiflora Mood & K.Larsenwfo-0000362463

[‘aurantiflora’], Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 45: 218. 1997. Plate LI: A–B.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Perennial, rhizomatous herb, 26–41.2 cm tall; rhizome 2-layered in cross section, outer layer white, inner core yellow; 1.5–2 cm diam; roots yellowish, fibrous with globular to fusiform terminal storage tubers; tuber yellow with a light brown core, slightly aromatic and bitter. Leafless sheaths 3, green to reddish, sparsely hairy; leaf sheaths 6.5–14 cm long, green to reddish, sparsely hairy; ligule short, membranous; blade broadly ovate to suborbicular, 20–27 by 14.5–20 cm, above dark green, sometimes with few silvery markings between veins, sparsely hairy, below purple with few white hairs, margin undulate; petiole 5–11 cm long, green to reddish, glabrescent or sparsely hairy. Inflorescence with 10–15 flowers; bracts ovate, apex acute, sparsely hairy; bracteoles lanceolate, apex acute, glabrous; ovary ellipsoid, sparsely hairy; style curved with filament and crest; stigma ca 1 by 1 mm, apex rounded, sticky, ciliate; epigynous glands ca 5 mm long, glabrous; calyx tube ca 4.7 by 0.7 cm, split 1 cm on one side, apex tridentate, white, pubescent; floral tube 2–3.8 cm long, white, glabrous on both sides, dorsal corolla lobe lanceolate to oblong, 4–5 by 1.3–1.5 cm, apex hooded, glabrous, red, lateral corolla lobes oblong, ca 3.5 by 1 cm, apex rounded, glabrous, red; lateral staminodes oblanceolate, 2–2.5 by 0.8–1 cm, glabrous, yellow to orange; labellum broadly deltoid to suborbicular, 3.3–4.5 by 2.2–3.2 cm, reflexed, yellow to orange with red lines at centre, margin undulating, glabrous; stamen: filament ca 5 mm long, yellow, glabrous; anther 2.5–3 by 0.7–1 cm, yellowish, opening longitudinally, connective produced into a long, narrow, forwards curved crest. Fruit not seen.

Thailand : (type from cultivation, of unknown wild origin – type: Mood 96P24, holotype -AAU); NORTHERN: Uttaradit, Phitsanulok (Wat Bot); NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun (Nam Nao NP), Loei (Na Haeo).

Distribution : Endemic.

Ecology : In mixed deciduous forests on humus-rich soil, 700 m alt.