Renealmia cuatrecasasii Maas

  • Authority

    Maas, Paulus J. M. 1977. Renealmia (Zingiberaceae--Zingiberoideae), Costoideae (Additions) (Zingiberaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 18: 1-218. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Zingiberaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Renealmia cuatrecasasii Maas

  • Type

    TYPE. Killip & Cuatrecasas 38707 (holotype, US, 2 specimens + photograph of living plant; isotypes, COL, F, VALLE), Cordoba, N shore of Buenaventura Bay, non-inundable forests, 5-15 mm alt, El Valle, Colombia.

  • Description

    Description - Plants 1-4 m tall. Rhizomes 10-25 thick, the roots 5-7 mm thick. Sheaths slightly reticulate, 10-20 mm wide, to 25 mm at the base of the plant, sparsely to rather densely covered with furcate and stellate prickles (<0.1 mm long). Ligule 1-2 mm long. Petiole 35-85 mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Lamina narrowly elliptic, acuminate at the apex (acumen 8-15 mm long), cuneate at the base, 50-83 cm long, (7-)9-16(-19) cm wide, midrib on lower side rather densely to densely covered with simple, furcate, and plurifurcate hairs (to 0.1 mm long), otherwise glabrous. Scape 15-35 cm tall, up to 10 mm thick, beset with sheaths up to 5-10 cm long and 1-1.7 cm wide. Inflorescence an open, basal thyrse 25-60 cm long and 6-13 cm wide (11 X 3 cm when young), its cincinni 2-10-flowered. Indument of inflorescence: sheaths, rhachis, bracts, and bracteoles densely covered with furcate, plurifurcate (and simple) hairs (to 0.2 mm long), peduncles, pedicels, corolla-tube, and calyx sparsely so, corolla-lobes, ovary, and capsule glabrous. Bracts green, soon deciduous, triangular-ovate to narrowly triangular-ovate, 7-55 mm long, 4-16 mm wide. Peduncles 7-30 mm long. Bracteole green, 7-14 mm long. Pedicels 5-30 mm long. Calyx pale green, turbinate, 4-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide (ca 3 mm at the base), the lobes shallowly triangular-ovate, 1-3 mm long, irregularly abscissing with age. Corolla (creamy) white to pale yellow, 19-20 mm long, the tube 6-7 mm long, the lobes 12-14 mm long, the dorsal one 8-9 mm wide, the two lateral ones 4-6 mm wide. Labellum yellowish to creamy white, yellow in the centre, 14-16 mm long and wide when spread out, basal part opposite anther densely hairy, the limb horizontally spreading, very gradually decurrent to the purplish base, lateral lobes 14-16 mm long, to 5 mm wide, lateral staminodes purplish, ca 1 mm long. Anther white, 5.5 mm long, 2 mm wide, glabrous. Style 15 mm long. Nectarial glands partly surrounding the style base, ca 1.5 mm long. Ovary green, ellipsoid. Capsule yellow, maturing orange to red, ellipsoid, 10-26 mm X 8-20 mm, its wall 0.5-1 mm thick when dry (2 mm thick in living material), 60-100 seeded, seeds 2-3.5 mm in diameter, aril white.

  • Discussion

    The main characters of this species are the very large and long-petiolate leaves, the many-flowered cincinni, the small calyx, and the many-seeded capsules. It is somewhat related to R. orinocensis.

    Maas & Plowman 1928 (COL, U), km 85, Boqueron, new road from Cali to Buenaventura, is related to this species, but aberrant by sessile leaves and thicker fruit (wall 3-4 mm vs 2 mm thick) with fewer (20-25 vs 60-100) seeds.

  • Distribution

    Pacific coast of Colombia; forests, from sea level up to 75 m.

    Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Nariño Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America|