Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 426 > Zingiberaceae > Curcuma

10. Curcuma campanulata (Kuntze) Škorničk.wfo-0001342546

Taxon 64(2): 369. 2015.— Stahlianthus campanulatus Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 697. 1891.— Kaempferia campanulata (Kuntze) K.Schum., Pflanzenr. IV, 46 (Heft 20): 85. 1904.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Rhizome small, ovoid to subglobose, unbranched. Leafy shoot to 25 cm tall with 2–3 leaves, bladeless sheaths and leaf sheaths glabrous; ligule not seen; blades elliptic, 5–15 by 2–3 cm, green and glabrous on both surfaces, base attenuate to obtuse, apex acute; petiole 5–12 cm long. Inflorescence lateral; peduncle ca 5 cm long; reduced thyrse campanulate, composed of two bracts enclosing 15–20 flowers; fertile bracts ovate with acute reflexed apex, ca 4 by 1.5–2 cm, green, glabrous; bracteoles oblong, 2–3 cm long, subhyaline. Flower gullet type; ovary subglobose, glabrous; style elongate, white; stigma wider than style, white; calyx membranous, ca 2 cm long with tridentate apex; floral tube narrowly obconical, ca 1.5 cm long, externally white; dorsal corolla lobe oblong, somewhat hooded, mucronate ca 1 cm long, semitranslucent white; lateral corolla lobes oblong ca 1 cm long, semitranslucent white; lateral staminodes narrowly obovate to spathulate, white; labellum obovate to spathulate with bilobed apex, white with yellow median band; stamen without obvious filament, anther spurless, connective tissue pure white, thecae ca 4 mm long, anther crest with rounded apex, white. Fruit not seen.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Nan; NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun, Nong Bua Lam Phu (Phu Hin Lat Cho Fa).

Distribution : Cambodia (Angkor – type).

Ecology : Bamboo forests.

Vernacular : Wan phet noi (ว่านเพชรน้อย).

Uses: Used medicinally for its anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties. It is also used as an ornamental.

Notes: Curcuma campanulata is one of many species with an imperfectly understood identity. The above description is based on the protologue, the type specimen and photographs of Thai material attributed to this species by Mongkolsawat et al., J. Animal Pl. Sci. 28(1): 85–91, 2018. Further investigations of living material from the type locality and from Northern and Northeastern Thailand are necessary to establish whether the Thai collections that are currently attributed to this species match the type or not.