Renealmia krukovii 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 krukovii Maas

  • Type

    TYPE. Krukoff 8594 (holotype, S; isotypes, F, GH, K, NY, U), municipality Säo Paulo de 01ivença, near Palmares, Rio Solimões, Amazonas, Brazil.

  • Description

    Description - Plants 0.50-1.25 m tall. Rhizomes 4-10 mm thick, roots 1-4 mm thick. Sheaths reticulate, 5-8 mm wide, to 15 mm at the base of the plant, rather densely covered with furcate to stellate (and simple) prickles (less than 0.1 mm long), and towards the reticulations with needle-like hairs. Ligule ca 1 mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Petiole 15-45 mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Lamina narrowly elliptic, acuminate at the apex (acumen to 20 mm long), cuneate at the base, 20-45 cm long, 2.5-7 cm wide, upper side glabrous or with some scattered prickles along the midrib, lower side glabrous or sparsely covered with simple hairs (up to 0.3 mm long), or covered with sessile, furcate hairs (ca 0.1 mm long). Scape erect or prostrate, 15-25 cm tall, up to 4 mm thick, beset with sheaths up to 4-7.5 cm long and 0.5-0.8 cm wide. Inflorescence a basal raceme 17-40 cm long and 2.5-6 cm wide. Indument of inflorescence: rhachis, peduncles, and pedicels densely covered with a mixture of simple hairs (ca 0.5 mm long) and furcate to plurifurcate hairs (ca 0.1 mm long); sheaths, bracts, bracteoles, calyx, corolla, and ovary densely (to sparsely) covered with mainly furcate to plurifurcate hairs, simple hairs scarce, capsule sparsely hairy. Bracts red, long-persistent, narrowly obovate-elliptic, more or less spathulate, 15-70 mm long, 4-13 mm wide. Peduncles 2-10(-20) mm long. Bracteole 10-19 mm long. Pedicels 1-8 mm long. Calyx red, tubular, 11-18 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, the lobes deltate, 3-4 mm long and wide. Corolla yellow, 30-32 mm long, the tube 16-18 mm long, the lobes 14 mm long, 8-10 mm wide. Labellum yellow, 13 mm long and to 8 mm wide when spread out, basal part opposite anther densely covered with simple hairs (ca 0.3 mm long), the limb 6 mm long, 8 mm wide, lateral lobes rounded, 6 mm long, 2 mm wide, middle lobe entire and rounded, basal claw 7 mm long, 4 mm wide, lateral staminodes 2 mm long. Anther 10 mm long, 5 mm wide, glabrous. Style 28 mm long. Nectarial glands multilobulate , completely surrounding the style base, 2 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid. Capsule red, ellipsoid, 15-22 X 7-10 mm, its wall ca 0.1 mm thick when dry, 8-10-seeded, seeds 4-6 X 3 mm.

  • Discussion

    Renealmia krukovii is closely related to R. urbaniana, differing from that species by its 1-flowered (instead of 2-flowered) cincinni, its red (instead of greenish) bracts, its 10 mm long (instead of 5 mm long) anther and its labellum, the middle lobe of which is entire (instead of 2-lobulate).

    The indument of the species is rather variable. In all Brazilian collections and in Soejarto & Cardozo 702 from Colombia the rhachis is densely covered with mainly simple hairs (furcate hairs scarce); in most of the Colombian collections, however, the rhachis is covered with both simple and furcate hairs. As these differences are only of a quantitative character they are not used for splitting up this species into two varieties.

  • Distribution

    Amazonian region of Colombia, Peru, and Brazil; in várzea forests or in forests on terra firme; at low elevations, up to 300 m.

    Amazonas Colombia South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America|