Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 702 > Zingiberaceae > Zingiber

1. Zingiber barbatum Wall.wfo-0000615917

Pl. Asiat. Rar. 1: 46. 1830; Horaninow, Prodr. Monogr. Scitam.: 28. 1862; Baker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 244. 1892; Schumann, Pflanzenr. IV, 46 (Heft 20): 185. 1904; Loesener, Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2, 15(A): 588. 1930; Theilade, Nordic J. Bot. 19(4): 405. 1999.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Rhizomatous herb 0.6–1.5 m tall; rhizome yellow with tubular roots. Leaf sheaths green, villous; ligule bilobed, lobes ca 2 mm, apex rounded, velutinous; blades oblong to lanceolate, 16–24 by 4.5–5.5 cm, villous on both sides, base obtuse, apex acuminate; petiole ca 2 mm, hairy. Inflorescences 1–2, radical with short and erect peduncle (rarely apical); peduncle 6–9 cm long, with 5–7 sheaths, pale pink or reddish green with dense, white hairs; spike ovate to conical, 6–10 by 3–4 cm, apex acute; bracts reddish green, ovate to cuspidate, 2.6–3.8 by 2–2.4 cm, subulate, with dense white hairs outside, upper bracts narrower and more pointed at apex; bracteoles obovate, 2.3–2.5 by 1–1.3 cm, with spreading hairs on outside of upper half, glabrous below, apex bidentate, unequal with trichomes at margin. Flowers whitish cream or yellow; ovary ca 3.5 by 3.5 mm, glabrous to sparsely fine hairy; calyx white, 1.4–1.6 cm long, lobes 0.8–0.85 cm long, apex truncate; floral tube whitish cream or yellow, 3.2–3.6 cm long, dorsal corolla lobe 1.6–1.7 by 0.8–1 cm, lateral corolla lobes 1.5–1.6 by 0.6 cm; labellum obovate-cuneate, ca 1.5 cm long, yellow with brown tinge inside, apex emarginate, midlobe orbicular or widely globose, ca 1 by 1.2 cm, apex divided bilobed, side lobes obovate, ca 0.4 by 0.3 mm; stamen: filament short, 1–2 mm long or anther sessile; anther 8–9 by ca 3 mm, anther crest ca 7 mm long, yellow, tip shorter than stigma. Fruit unknown.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son (Huai Sua Tao, Mae Sariang), Chiang Mai (Mae Rim), Phitsanulok (Wat Bot); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi (Hin Dat, Sai Yok, Thong Pha Phum); SOUTH-EASTERN: Sa Kaeo.

Distribution : Myanmar (type).

Ecology : Deciduous and evergreen forests, 100–300 m alt. Flowering: June–July.

Vernacular : Khing khon nu (ขิงขนหนู).

Notes: Horaninow (1862) placed Zingiber barbatum in section Cryptanthium because of its short peduncle, like that of Z. ligulatum Roxb. and Z. roseum Roscoe but the shape of the spike and bracts are different in the latter two species. Moreover, the inflorescence position may vary in Z. barbatum; Triboun 3502, which was collected in Kanchanaburi and grown at BK, produced many inflorescences borne terminally on leafy shoots. Thus, the peduncle character alone may not be sufficient for assigning a species to section Cryptanthium. Theilade et al. (Grana 32: 338–342. 1993) showed that, in sections Zingiber and Dymczewiczia, the pollen grains are spherical with cerebroid sculpturing, while in section Crypthanthium Horan., the pollen is ellipsoid with spiro-striate sculpturing. An examination of the pollen of Z. barbatum by electron microscopy may give evidence for its placement.