Renealmia alpinia (Rottb.) Maas
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Authority
Maas, Paulus J. M. 1977. Renealmia (Zingiberaceae--Zingiberoideae), Costoideae (Additions) (Zingiberaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 18: 1-218. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Zingiberaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
TYPE, a collection of Rolander from Suriname (not seen). If no herbarium material of the Rolander collection should prove to be preserved, table 1 of Rottboell s original description of Amomum alpinia has to be designated as lectotype.
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Synonyms
Renealmia exaltata L.f., Amomum renealmia Lam., Alpinia pacoseroca Jacq., Costus secundus Roem. & Schult., Alpinia exaltata (L.f.) Roem. & Schult., Alpinia renealmia Sm., Amomum alpinia Rottb., Alpinia tubulata Ker, Siphotria squamosa Raf., Renealmia macrantha Poepp. & Endl., Renealmia pacoseroca (Jacq.) Horan., Renealmia bracteosa Griseb., Renealmia occidentalis var. pacoseroca (Jacq.) Petersen, Renealmia raja Petersen, Ethanium pacoseroca Kuntze, Ethanium exaltatum Kuntze, Ethanium macranthum (Poepp. & Endl.) Kuntze, Ethanium bracteosum Kuntze, Renealmia foliosa S.Moore, Renealmia goyazensis Gagnep. & K.Schum., Renealmia exaltata L.f., Renealmia rubroflava K.Schum., Renealmia coelobractea K.Schum., Alpinia macrantha Poepp. & Endl. ex K.Schum., Renealmia lativagina J.F.Macbr.
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Description
Description - Stout plants 1-6 m tall. Rhizomes 10-30 mm thick. Sheaths smooth, 10-20 mm wide, up to 50 mm at the base of the plant, glabrous or sparsely covered with needle-like hairs (to 0.5 mm long), the grooves often covered with simple prickles (<0.1 mm long). Ligule l-2(-4) mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Petiole often absent, but sometimes up to 30(-45) mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Lamina narrowly elliptic, acuminate at the apex (acumen 5-15 mm long), cuneate at the base, 30-110 (-150) cm long, (6-)8-18 (-23) cm wide, upper side glabrous, lower side glabrous or sometimes covered with erect, simple hairs (to 0.3 mm long). Scape erect, reddish, 15-50 (-70) cm tall, 0.3-1 cm thick, beset with sheaths up to 6-21 cm long and 1-2.5 (-3.5) cm wide. Inflorescence a basal raceme or sometimes a basal thyrse with 2-6-flowered cincinni, 12-55 cm long, 4-8 cm wide, rhachis 3-6(-9) mm thick. Indument of inflorescence: rhachis, peduncles, bracteoles, pedicels, calyx, ovary, and young capsule densely covered with erect, simple (very rarely furcate) hairs (to 0.5 mm long), sheaths, bracts, and mature capsule less densely so or even glabrous, corolla glabrous. Bracts pink to red, membranous, soon withering and then becoming brown, narrowly (ovate-) triangular to (ovate-) triangular, (15-)20-100(-170) mm long, 3-10(-20) mm wide. Peduncles pink to red, (5-)10-20(-35) mm long in 1-flowered cincinni, 5-25 mm in several-flowered cincinni. Bracteole pink to red, 15-30(-35) mm long in 1-flowered cincinni, 15-20(-25) mm in several-flowered cincinni. Pedicels pink to red, 2-8(-10) mm long in 1-flowered cincinni, 2-15(-20) mm long in several-flowered cincinni. Calyx pink to red, tubular, membranous, soon circumscissile to just above the base, (12-)15-20(-25) mm long, 4-8(-10) mm wide in 1-flowered cincinni, 10-15 mm long in several-flowered cincinni. Corolla yellow, orange, or red, 27-32 mm long in 1-flowered cincinni, 18-24 mm in several-flowered cincinni, the tube 12-17 mm long, the lobes 13-15 mm long, 8-11 mm wide in 1-flowered cincinni, ca 10 mm long and 5-7 mm wide in several-flowered cincinni. Labellum yellow, 12 mm long and 10 mm wide when spread out in 1-flowered cincinni, 10-12 mm long and 6-7 mm wide in several-flowered cincinni, basal part opposite the anther densely covered with simple (and stalked, furcate) hairs (up to 0.5 mm long), limb erect, 5-6 mm long, 6-10 mm wide, lateral lobes involute, rounded, 3-5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, middle lobe entire and rounded, basal claw 5-6 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, lateral staminodes ca 2 mm long. Anther dark yellow, 8-12 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, its back, sides, and the groove between the thecae often with the same indument as the labellum. Style 25-30 mm long in 1-flowered cincinni, 18-24 mm in several-flowered cincinni. Nectarial glands multilobulate, completely surrounding the style base, 1.5-2 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid, red. Capsule red, maturing black-purple, ellipsoid (to subglobose), crowned by the circumscissile calyx, (10-)15-35(-40) mm long, (6-)8-20(-25) mm wide, its wall fleshy, 2-8 mm thick in living material, 0.3-1.5 mm thick when dry, number of seeds (30-)50-100 (-160), seeds 2-4 mm in diameter, aril orange.
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Discussion
Renealmia alpinia is a species which can hardly be confused with any other, although it superficially looks like R. thyrsoidea Its main differentiating character is the membranous calyx, which is very soon circumscissile a few millimeters above the base.
In the shape of the bracts there is a slight difference between the plants from the northern part of the area (Central America) and the southern part, the bracts in the northern part being wider and often obtuse (Fig 7), those in the southern always relatively narrow and acute.In most of the investigated herbarium material the lower side of the leaves is glabrous, but in a few specimens (mostly from SE Brazil, one from Venezuela, and one from Mexico) it is covered with erect, simple hairs.The inflorescence of R. alpinia is often a raceme, but (mainly in the western part of South America and in Central America) there are some specimens with a paniculate thyrse, the cincinni being 2-6-flowered! It is not impossible that these many-flowered forms are due to introgression of R. occidentalis var occidentalis.The indument of the inflorescence is rather constant, its rhachis very often covered with simple, erect hairs; only in a few collections from Panama and Colombia there occur some scattered, furcate hairs on the rhachis.The lectotype of R. goyazensis,* Glaziou 22183 a (P), exactly agrees with R. alpinia in its inflorescence, but the leaves are aberrant in being much narrower (4.5-5 cm wide) and in having a relatively long petiole (40-45 cm long). It seems doubtful if these leaves really belong to the specimen. -
Objects
Pending, P. Wilson 514, Euphorbia Lanj., Euphorbiaceae (173.0), Magnoliophyta; West Indies, Cuba
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Distribution
Tropical South America, the lesser Antilles, Central America, and Mexico; rather common in secondary forest, inundated forest, swamps, or on stream banks, usually at low elevation, up to 500 m (few collections up to 1500 m).
Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Montserrat South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Grenada South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Caquetá Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Norte de Santander Colombia South America| Santander Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America| Apure Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Barinas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Carabobo Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Mérida Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Portuguesa Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Distrito Federal Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Guayas Ecuador South America| Manabí Ecuador South America| Morona-Santiago Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Pichincha Ecuador South America| Los Ríos Ecuador South America| Zamora-Chinchipe Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Amazonas Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America|