Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 645 > Zingiberaceae > Meistera

2. Meistera chinensis (Chun ex T.L.Wu) Škorničk. & M.F.Newmanwfo-0001426378

Taxon 67(1): 26. 2018.— Amomum chinense Chun ex T.L.Wu, Fl. Hainan. 4: 533. 1977; Lamxay & Newman, Edinburgh J. Bot. 69(1): 121. 2012. Fig. 34, Plate LXXIV: C–D.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Rhizomatous herb 0.9–3.5 m tall, stout, swollen and red at base; rhizome elongate. Leaf sheaths reticulate; ligule bilobed, 0.5–1 cm long, membranous, purplish red; blades 18–24, oblong, elliptic-oblong or ovate-oblong, 20–37 by 4.5–7.5 cm, base attenuate or obtuse, apex acuminate; petiole 0.5–1 cm long. Inflorescence obovoid, ca 5 by 4 cm, ca 16 flowers; peduncle ca 10 cm long, procumbent; peduncular bracts broadly ovate, apex round, hooded, apiculate, pinkish green; bracts ovate-oblong, ca 2.3–3 by 1–1.7 cm, hooded, apex mucronate, pinkish green; bracteoles ca 1.5–1.7 cm long including ovary, apex unequally bifid, shallowly split on 1 side, greenish cream, membranous, whitish pubescent at base. Flower: ovary cylindrical, 8 by 3.5 mm, surface densely brownish pubescent; stigma small, cup-shaped, hairy at margin; epigynous glands blunt, ca 2 by 2 mm; calyx 2–2.6 cm long including ovary, apex unequally bi- or trifid, shallowly split on 1 side, membranous, cream-white; floral tube ca 2 cm long including ovary, cream-white, dorsal corolla lobe oblong, ca 1.7 by 0.8 cm, apex acuminate, hooded, lateral corolla lobes narrower; lateral staminodes minute, subulate, ca 1–3 mm long, with lines of crimson dots from base to apex; labellum spreading, margin revolute, slightly trilobed, 2–2.6 by 1.9–2.5 cm, base cordate and clawed, apex of midlobe round and emarginate, lateral lobes round, margin revolute and wrinkled, white with yellow blotches along centre and broader at apex, purplish red stripes on each side of blotch, hairy from base to middle; stamen: filament 6–8 by ca 2 mm, linear, glabrous, with 2 crimson dotted lines along centre; anther ca 8 by 3.5 mm, dehiscing lengthwise, sparsely pubescent, pale yellow, anther crest reniform or semilunar, subequally trilobed, hooded, white, central lobe rounded, ca 5 by 3 mm, lateral lobes auriculate, ca 3 by 3 mm, round. Fruit globose, 2.5–2.7 cm diam., covered with rigid spines, purplish red, slightly aromatic.

Thailand : NORTH-EASTERN: Nong Khai (Phu Wua, Phu Tok Noi WS), Sakon Nakhon (Phu Phan), Mukdahan (Dong Bang-i), Kalasin; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima (Khao Phrik), Buri Ram (Dong Yai WS), Ubon Ratchathani (Phu Chong Nayoi), Amnat Charoen; SOUTH-EASTERN: Sa Kaeo (Pang Sida), Prachin Buri (Khao Hua Chang, Thap Lan), Chon Buri (Khao Khiao).

Distribution : Cambodia, China (Hainan – type), Laos, Vietnam.

Ecology : Dry evergreen forests, mostly disturbed areas in moist deciduous forests, margins of dry evergreen forests, ca 300 m alt. Flowering and fruiting: April–August.

Vernacular : Naeng yai (แหน่งใหญ่), mak naeng (หมากแหน่ง), mak neng khong (หมักเน่งโค่ง).