Renealmia chiriquina Standl.

  • 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 chiriquina Standl.

  • Type

    TYPE. Davidson 386 (holotype, F; isotypes, F, GH), Bajo Chorro, 2000 m, Boquete District, prov. Chiriqui, Panama.

  • Description

    Description - Plants 0.45-1.20 m tall. Rhizomes 6-10 mm thick. Sheaths striate, ca 10 mm wide, sparsely to rather densely covered with stellate (or furcate) prickles (less than 0.1 mm long). Ligule 1-2 mm long, rather densely covered with stellate prickles and simple, needle-like hairs. Petiole 0-10 mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Lamina narrowly elliptic, acuminate at the apex (acumen ca 10 mm long), cuneate at the base, 8-26 cm long, 2.5-7 cm wide, glabrous on both sides. Scape (20-)40-65 cm tall, up to 6 mm thick, beset with sheaths up to 6-8.5 cm long and 0.5-1 cm wide. Inflorescence a basal thyrse 3-7 cm long and 3.5-4 cm wide, with 2-flowered cincinni, the rhachis green. Indument of inflorescence: sheaths, rhachis, peduncles, pedicels, and ovary densely covered with plurifurcate (appearing stellate) hairs (to 0.2 mm long), the corolla-tube, bracts, bracteoles, calyx, and capsule sparsely so to glabrous. Bracts green, quickly deciduous, ovate-triangular, obtuse, 10-20 mm long, 6-10 mm wide. Peduncles 4-8 mm long. Bracteole 7-8 mm long. Pedicels 1-2 mm long. Calyx yellow to greenish-yellow, tubular, 7-11 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, the lobes depressed-ovate, 1.5-2.5 mm long, 3-5 mm wide. Corolla pale yellow to white, 17 mm long, the tube 9-10 mm long, the lobes 7-8 mm long, 5 mm wide. Labellum pale yellow to white, ca 8 mm long and 10 mm wide when spread out, the limb 4 mm long, 10 mm wide, lateral lobes rounded, ca 4 mm long, 3-3.5 mm wide, middle lobe with two deltate lobules 2 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, basal claw 4 mm long, 2 mm wide, lateral staminodes ca 1.5 mm long. Anther 4-5 mm long, 2 mm wide, glabrous. Style 16-17 mm long. Nectarial glands multilobulate, completely surrounding the style base, but sometimes open at one side, ca 1.5 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid. Capsule red (?), ellipsoid to globose, 7-10 mm long, 7-seeded, seeds 2-2.5 X 3-3.5 mm.

  • Discussion

    The characteristics of R. chiriquina are: 1, the relatively short pedicels (1-2 mm long); 2, a rather long, tubular calyx; 3, an indument of plurifurcate hairs on the rhachis. Renealmia chiriquina is related to R. congesta.

    Brenes 5700 (CR, F), Cerro “La Muralla,” San Ramon, El Socorro, Costa Rica could not be identified with certainty as it has characters of both R. chiriquina and R. alpinia.

  • Distribution

    Panama, the province of Chiriquí; in cloud forest, 1800-2200 m.

    Panama Central America| Chiriquí Panamá Central America|