Renealmia floribunda K.Schum.

  • 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 floribunda K.Schum.

  • Type

    TYPE. Spruce 2250 (holotype, B, destroyed; lectotype, K; isotypes, BR, CGE, P), São Gabriel da Cachoeira, upper Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil.

  • Synonyms

    Renealmia occidentalis var. longipes Petersen, Renealmia pedicellaris Gleason

  • Description

    Description - Plants 1-3 m tall. Rhizomes 5-15 mm thick. Sheaths reticulate, often chocolate-brown when dry, 5-15 mm wide, to 20 mm at the base of the plant, densely covered with simple, furcate, or stellate prickles (less than 0.1 mm long), and towards the reticulations with needle-like hairs (to 1 mm long). Ligule 1-2 mm long, densely covered with needle-like hairs. Petiole 0-15(-25) mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Lamina narrowly elliptic, acuminate at the apex (acumen 5-15 mm long), cuneate at the base, 30-75 cm long, 4-10 cm wide, upper side glabrous, lower side glabrous or sparsely covered with erect, simple hairs (to 0.5 mm long) particularly along the midrib. Scape erect or prostrate, 25-150 cm tall, up to 4(-5) mm thick, beset with sheaths up to 2-6(-9) cm long and 0.5-1 cm wide, rhachis green (sometimes purplish-red). Inflorescence a basal, occasionally branched thyrse 10-40(-65) cm long and (l-)4-9 cm wide, with 2-6(-10)-flowered cincinni. Indument of inflorescence: sheaths, rhachis, bracts, peduncles, bracteoles, pedicels, calyx, ovary, and capsule densely to sparsely covered with simple, furcate or plurifurcate hairs (to 0.5 mm long); ovary and capsule occasionally glabrous; corolla glabrous. Bracts pale green (in some collections red), membranous and very soon deciduous, narrowly triangular-ovate, 10-40 mm long, 5-10 mm wide. Peduncles-green, 3-10(-20) mm long. Bracteole pale green, 10-20 mm long. Pedicels green, (5-) 10-33 mm long. Calyx green (in some collections purple-red), turbinate, 3-6(-8) mm long, 3-4 mm wide, the lobes shallowly triangular, 1-2 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, persistent on capsule. Corolla pale yellow, ca 12 mm long, the tube 4-5 mm long, the lobes 7-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide. Labellum yellow, 10-11 mm long and 8-11 mm wide when spread out, basal part opposite anther densely covered with simple hairs (ca 0.3 mm long), the limb horizontally spreading, 7-8 mm long, 8-11 mm wide, lateral lobes rounded, 6-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, middle lobe with two narrowly ovate-elliptic lobules 2-3 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, basal claw 3 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, lateral staminodes ca 1 mm long. Anther purple-red, 3-5 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, glabrous. Style 9-10 mm long. Nectarial glands only partly surrounding the style base, ca 2 mm long. Ovary globose, green. Capsule green, maturing black-purple, globose to ellipsoid, 4-10(-l 5) X 4-11 mm, its wall ca 0.1 mm thick when dry (1-1.5 mm in living material), 10-25-seeded, seeds 2-3 X 2.5-3 mm, aril orange.

  • Discussion

    This species is very closely related to R. guianensis with which it shares leaf-size, reticulate, dark brown (when dry) leaf-sheaths, and most of the floral characters. The two species are quite different, however in the size and colour of the fruit, those of R. floribunda being 4-10 (-15) mm long, green when young and maturing black, and crowned with the persistent calyx. The fruits of R. guianensis, in contrast, are 8-20 mm long, reddish (brownish in herbarium material), and the calyx is deciduous during fructification.

    Renealmia floribunda is rather variable in the size and branching of its inflorescence. In the past, two species were recognized because of these variable characters, namely R. pedicellaris (large fruits and inflorescence, few flowers per cincinnus) and R. floribunda (small fruits and inflorescence, many flowers per cincinnus). On a botanical trip in Suriname I collected on 26 Jan 1965 along forest margins near Heidoti, Coppename River some plants which showed all characters of R. floribunda, namely small, many-flowered cincinni and mature fruits of only 4-6 mm in diameter. Returning to Heidoti on 16 Mar. 1965 I saw to my great surprise that the inflorescence of the same rhizome at exactly the same place near the forest margin were different from those I found in January, namely, much longer, with few-flowered cincinni, and immature (green) fruits 8-10 mm in diameter, exactly the inflorescence-type of Gleason’s R. pedicellaris. The “January type” arose from the rhizome after a long, dry period, thus producing a small inflorescence, whereas the “March type” was preceded by a month and a half of steady and heavy rainfall. Thus it becomes necessary to merge the two species as R. floribunda.

  • Distribution

    Northern South America, including Trinidad and the Amazon River region; in rain forests, swamp forests, or forested savanna margins; at low elevations, up to 400 m.

    Trinidad and Tobago South America| Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Amazonas Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America|