Alpinia laosensis Gagnepain (1906: 133)

Ye, Xing-Er, Nguyen, Khang Sinh, Souvannakhoummane, Keooudone, Nguyen, Quoc Binh & Chen, Juan, 2021, Alpinia laosensis, the correct name for a species previously misidentified as A. conchigera, Phytotaxa 508 (2), pp. 129-141 : 133

Alpinia laosensis Gagnepain (1906: 133) ( Figs. 1A , 2A & B , 3 )

Type: LAOS, without precise locality, Pavie 18 (holotype: P barcode P032692 [digital image!]) .

Alpinia conchigera auct. non Griffith: Wu & Chen (1978: 36, 1981: 97); Tong (1997: 613); Wu & Larsen (2000: 336).

Herb 1.5–2.0 m high. Clump-forming, with 10–20 pseudostems per clump. Leafy shoot composed of ca. 17 leaves. Leaf sheaths striate, tomentose. Ligule entire, 5–8 mm long, tomentose or glabrous. Petiole 5–14 mm long, tomentose. Lamina lanceolate, 20–30 × 7–10 cm, apex acute, base obtuse, lateral vein densely prominent when dry, glabrous except margins ciliate and midvein pubescent abaxially. Inflorescence panicle and cincinnate, 20–30 cm long, usually 1- or 2-branched, secondary branches many and short, 1.5–2.8 cm long, with 4–7 bracteoles. Peduncle green, pubescent. Peduncular bract 1–2, lanceolate, 8–17 cm long, brown, persistent. Fertile bract inconspicuous. Bracteole funnel-form, 3–4 mm long, scarlet when young, brown when old, apex obliquely truncate, nearly glabrous. Flowers 1.2–1.4 cm long, fleshy. Pedicel 2–8 mm long, pubescent. Calyx cupular, 3–4 mm long, scarlet, apex 3-cleft, glabrous. Floral tube 3–4 mm long. Dorsal corolla lobe elliptic, 8–10 × 3–5 mm, mostly scarlet and sometimes pink or greenish yellow, apex obtuse, glabrous. Lateral corolla lobes oblong, 6–10 × 3–4 mm, colour and indumentum same as dorsal lobe. Labellum broadly ovate, 6–7 × 5–6 mm long, concave, Scarlet with a bright yellow longitudinal band in the centre, two cream patches along the edges of the band, base reddish yellow, red veins radiating from near centre towards the margins, glabrous. Lateral staminodes quadrate or triangluar, 2–3 mm long, red with yellow dots, base bearing red callosities covering corolla throat, glabrous. Stamen 1.0– 1.1 cm long. Filament slender, 7–8 mm long, red abaxially, light red adaxially. Anther 2–4 mm long, light yellowish red. Epigynous glands triangular, 2.0– 2.5 mm long, scarlet. Ovary pyriform, bright green, glabrous. Style filiform, glabrous. Stigma elongate, ca. 0.25 mm wide, without cilia. Capsules ellipsoid, 1.0– 1.4 cm long, 7–9 mm wide, slightly contracted in the middle, green when young, turning to maroon when ripe, with 3–5 seeds. Seeds aromatic.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Alpinia laosensis and A. conchigera. (A) Alpinia laosensis [P032692] (reproduced with permission from: http:// coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p032692), (B) A. conchigera [K000292388] (http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/ K000292388; © copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

FIGURE 2. Alpinia laosensis: (A) Inflorescence, (B) Flowers and A. conchigera: (C) Inflorescence, (D) Flowers. Photos A & B by Ye Xing-Er; based on Y.H. Tong & X.E. Ye 186, Photos C & D by Khang Sinh Nguyen; based on J. Regalado et al. 1979.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Alpinia laosensis (blue squares) and A. conchigera (red dots).