Kaempferia sawanensis Picheans. & Koonterm, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 31(6): 509. 2009

Insisiengmay, Oudomphone, Haevermans, Thomas & Newman, Mark F., 2019, Typification of names in Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) in the flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, PhytoKeys 122, pp. 97-102 : 100

Kaempferia sawanensis Picheans. & Koonterm, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 31(6): 509. 2009

Type.

Lao PDR, Sawanakhet province, Phin District, Dong Phou Vieng NPA, 16°30.457'N, 106°1.446'E, alt. 288 m, 26 Apr 2007, C. Picheansoonthon & S. Koonterm 16 (holotype: BKF; isotypes: BK, SING). Lao PDR, Sawanakhet Province, Phin District, Dong Phou Vieng NBCA, 16°25.385'N, 105°58.6217'E, 289 m alt., 7 Jun 2016, O. Insisiengmay OI-49 (neotype: HNL, designated here; isoneotypes: BKF, E (with spirit collection), FOF, P (with spirit collection), SING).

Note.

The protologue cites only the type collection, comprising the holotype and two isotypes. No other collections were cited as paratypes so the existing original material consists of the published text and figures alone.

A search for Kaempferia sawanensis was made at the type locality, using the GPS coordinates given in the protologue. These coordinates lead to an area of rice fields with patches of heavily disturbed forest near human habitation just south of the district town of Phin. No plants which matched the protologue could be found in this area.

Proceeding southwards along the same road, Dong Phou Vieng NPA is reached as the land begins to rise. After a right turn, the road leads towards Ban Tad Hai through evergreen forest with clearings. Kaempferia sawanensis was found in one of these clearings.

In the protologue, the habitat is described as "sandy soil along dry evergreen forest and pine-deciduous dipterocarp forest". Along the road to Ban Tad Hai, a substantial population of Kaempferia sawanensis was found in deciduous forest with bamboo ( Vietnamosasa sp.) but completely without pine. The collectors of the holotype may have misunderstood the name for Vietnamosasa bamboo, which is kok phêk or ya phêk in Laotian, very close to kok pek ( Pinus sp.). In any case, this locality matches the habitat described in the protologue and our collection, O. Insisiengmay OI-49 matches the description of Kaempferia sawanensis . We designate this collection as the neotype.