Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 459 > Zingiberaceae > Curcuma

44. Curcuma rangsimae Boonma & Saensoukwfo-1000026570

Biodiversitas 22(4): 1659. 2021.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Rhizome branched, main rhizome ovoid, 3.6–4 by 2.5–3.1 cm, internally pale yellow, fragrant; rhizome branches curved down into ground and bending upwards at tip to grow into new stems, 5–8 by 0.8–1. 3 cm, internally pale yellow, fragrant; root tubers elliptic, 2–4 cm long. Leafy shoot 0.6–1 m tall with 5–7 leaves; bladeless sheaths 1–2, green, sometimes with red at base, glabrous; leaf sheaths green, sometimes reddish at base, glabrous; ligule bilobed, 4–6 mm long, apices rounded, translucent pale green, hairy; petiole 8–15 cm long, green, glabrous; blades narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, 40–70 by 12–20 cm, base attenuate, slightly oblique, apex acuminate, green with lighter green along midrib, embossed veins, glabrous on both surfaces except a few short hairs at tip. Inflorescence central; peduncle 8–15 by 0.8–1.2 cm, green with white at base, pilose; thyrse cylindrical, 12–20 by 7.8–9.5 cm at maturity; fertile bracts 29–48 per inflorescence, lower bracts ovate with obtuse to rounded apex, upper bracts obovate with acute apex, 3.4–3.9 by 2.6–3.2 cm, cream or pale green with white at base, sometimes pale pink; coma bracts absent. Flower gullet type, 4–6 cm long, exserted from bracts; ovary prolate spheroid, 3.5–4 by 2.5–3 mm, light pale yellow, glabrous; epigynous glands 2, 4–5 by 0.9–1.1 mm, pale yellow; style very slender, 5.3–5.7 cm long, 0.2–0.3 mm diam.; stigma ca 1 by 1 mm, white, ciliate; calyx 1.2–2 cm long, apex tridentate with unilateral incision to 8 mm, translucent white, glabrous; floral tube 2.5–3.5 by 0.8–1 cm at apex, externally white turning pale yellowish towards apex, with scattered fine hairs; dorsal corolla lobe hooded with acuminate apex, 1.6–1.7 by 1–1.2 cm, light pale yellow, glabrous; lateral corolla lobes hooded with obtuse apex, 15–17 by 9–11 mm, light pale yellow, glabrous; lateral staminodes asymmetrically trullate to ovate with obtuse apex, 14–16 by 10–12 mm, yellow with pale yellow at base, with fine hairs; labellum ovate, 1.5–1.6 by 1.6–1.7 cm, apex deeply emarginate, incision to 6 mm, yellow with dark yellow band in middle and light pale yellow at base, fine hairy along sides of mid-band; stamen 1–1.2 by 0.2–0.3 cm, light pale yellow, filament 6–7 mm long, 5–6 mm wide at base, 2–3 mm wide at attachment, light pale yellow, finely hairy; anther spurred, spurs conical, pale yellow, ca 3.5 mm long, connective tissue light pale yellow, finely hairy, crest ca 1 by 2–3 mm, apex rounded. Fruit prolate spheroid to subglobose, 0.8–1.2 by 0.7–1.2 cm, glabrous; seed ovoid or asymmetrically ovoid, some slightly curved, 3.5–4.2 by 2–2.5 mm, yellowish brown, very pale yellow to white, aril white.

Thailand : EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; CENTRAL: Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok (Ban Na – type: Boonma 8, holotype -KKU, isotypes -BK BKF QBG); SOUTH-EASTERN: Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao.

Distribution : Endemic.

Ecology : Deciduous forests, semi-open areas, 80–250 m alt. Flowering in the rainy season (June–September); fruiting: late August–October.

Vernacular : Bussarakham (บุษราคัม), krachiao Rangsima (กระเจียวรังสิมา).

Uses: Ornamental plant.