Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 635 > Zingiberaceae > Kaempferia

27. Kaempferia saraburiensis Picheans.wfo-0000921638

J. Jap. Bot. 86: 1. 2011.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Perennial herb 5–10 cm tall; rhizome slender, long creeping, to 2 by 2 cm; roots fascicled, tuberous with fibrous roots, 4–6.5 cm long; tubers globose, ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 by 1.3–1.6 cm. Bladeless sheaths 1–2, 2–3 by 2.3–4.1 cm, apex mucronate, pilose; leaves 2; sheaths 2.4–3.7 cm long, sparsely pilose; blades broadly ovate, horizontal near ground, 13.2–16.7 by 11.1–15.6 cm, margin slightly undulate, glabrous above, sparsely pilose below, base round, apex mucronate. Inflorescence terminal, subsessile, embedded in leaf sheath, ca 4 by 1–1.2 cm; peduncle subsessile to 7 mm long, glabrous; bracts lanceolate to oblong, 3.4–5.1 by 8–12 cm, apex acute, white, glabrous; bracteoles 2, free, linear, 2.4–3.8 by 1 mm, apex acuminate, glabrous. Flowers few; floral plane perpendicular; ovary cylindrical, 2–3 by ca 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; style 9–10 cm long; stigma funnel-shaped, ca 1 mm long, front side truncate, with ciliate margin, back side triangular; epigynous glands filiform, 6–7 mm long, pale yellow; calyx 4.1–4.5 cm long, split 1–1.2 cm on one side, apex bifid, acute, sparsely pilose, greenish white, glabrous; floral tube 6.7–8.5 by 0.2–0.3 cm, white, glabrous, dorsal corolla lobe oblong to narrowly lanceolate, 2.2 –2.5 by ca 0.4 cm, apex hooded, white, lateral corolla lobes linear oblong to narrowly lanceolate, 2–2.4 by 0.3–0.4 cm, apex acute, white, lateral staminodes narrowly obovate, 2.2–3 by 0.7–1.3 cm, erect, imbricate, apex rounded, shallowly lobed, white turning pale yellow in afternoon; labellum broadly obovate, 2.1–2.7 by 1.9–2.1 cm, divided to the middle, each lobe obovate, 1.2–1.5 by 0.7–1.2 cm, apex rounded, violet, darker at base; stamen: filament short to absent, ca 2 by 1.5 mm; anther oblong, 4–6 by 1.5 mm, anther crest ovate to triangular, 4–6 by 3–4 mm, apex acute to bi- or tridentate. Fruit obovate-oblong to oblong, 0.7–1.5 by 0.7 cm; seeds many, narrowly ellipsoid to deltoid, brown; aril white.

Thailand : CENTRAL: Lop Buri, Saraburi (Phra Phutthabat – type: Picheansoonthon 210608-2, holotype -BKF, isotypes -BK SING).

Distribution : Endemic.

Ecology : Limestone soil or among rocks in lowland dry deciduous forests, 67–134 m alt.

Vernacular : Pro phra phutthabat (เปราะพระพุทธบาท), wan pro daeng (ว่านเปราะแดง), wan tup mup daeng (ว่านตูบหมูบแดง).

Notes: This species is very similar to Kaempferia laotica but differs in the keels on its anther crest. The corolla tube is ca three times the length of the lateral staminodes. The leaf can be brown, brownish green, purple, to green, with transparent margin. Kaempferia bambusetorum, nom. nud. (Techaprasan et al., 2010) is probably also this species.