Renealmia fragilis 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 fragilis Maas

  • Type

    TYPE. Wiggins 10448 (holotype, US), along trail to San Pedro, on ridge S of Rio Clavadero, E of Cayambe, prov. Imbabura, Ecuador, 2500 m.

  • Description

    Description - Plants 0.8-2 m tall. Rhizomes ca 10 mm thick. Sheaths striate, 5-8 mm wide densely covered with white sometimes inflated, simple to plurifurcate hairs (0.2-0.5 mm long) and with sessile, furcate to plurifurcate hairs (ca 0.1 mm wide). Ligule 2-3 mm long, hairy like the sheaths. Petiole absent. Lamina narrowly elliptic, shortly acuminate at the apex (acumen 5-15 mm long), cuneate at the base, 740 cm long, 2.5-10 cm wide, upper side glabrous, lower side sparsely to rather densely covered with sessile, furcate to plurifurcate hairs (less than 0.1 mm wide), and sometimes along the midrib region with inflated, simple hairs (0.2-0.3 mm long). Scape 15-85 cm tall, up to 4 mm thick, beset with sheaths up to 5-20 cm long and 0.5-1 cm wide. Inflorescence a lax to dense basal thyrse or raceme 6-16 cm long and 4.5-8 cm wide, with 1-2-flowered cincinni, rhachis red. Indument of inflorescence: sheaths, rhachis, bracts, peduncles, bracteoles, pedicels, calyx, margins of corolla-lobes, ovary, and capsule sparsely to rather densely covered with white, sometimes inflated, (simple, furcate, plurifurcate, or irregularly branched) hairs (0.1-0.4 mm long) often mixed with brownish, not inflated, shortly stalked, furcate to plurifurcate hairs and some brownish, simple hairs; calyx, ovary, and capsule sometimes glabrous. Bracts red, fragile and very soon deciduous, narrowly obovate, obtuse, 16-50 mm long, 3-10 mm wide. Peduncles red, 3-14 mm long. Bracteole red, 12-15 mm long. Pedicel red, 5-15 mm long. Calyx red, tubular, fragile, 9-20 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, the lobes shallowly triangular to triangular, 2-6 mm long, 4 mm wide. Corolla white to yellow, 22-24 mm long, the tube 13-15 mm long, the lobes 9 mm long 4-5 mm wide. Labellum white (?), ca 12 mm long and 8-10 mm wide when spread out, glabrous, the limb ca 6 mm long, 8-10 mm wide, basal claw 6 mm long, 2-4 mm wide, lateral staminodes ca 2 mm long. Anther red, 5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, glabrous. Style 22 mm long. Nectarial glands multilobulate, completely surrounding the style base, ca 2 mm long. Ovary red, globose. Capsule red (?), globose, 6-10 mm in diameter, its wall ca 0.1 mm thick when dry, 9-seeded seeds 3 X 4-5 mm.

  • Discussion

    This species, which is probably closest to R. acreana is characterized by inflated, white hairs on both leaf-sheaths and inflorescence, relatively long peduncles and pedicels (both to 15 mm long) and globose fruit 8-9 mm in diameter.

    There is a considerable variation within this species: ldrobo & Kyburz 2349 and von Sneidem 4652 have small leaves (up to 3 cm wide) and a lax inflorescence, two other collections, Bristol 417 and Wiggins 10448, have much wider leaves (up to 8.5 cm wide) and a dense inflorescence. The Jameson collection from Ecuador, however, is intermediate between these two forms in the structure of its inflorescence and the size of its leaves (up to 4 cm wide). As all of these plants possess the very typical inflated hairs, however, I prefer to treat them for the present as representing one species

    The specific epithet refers to the membranous, very fragile floral parts (bracts bracteole, and calyx).

  • Distribution

    Ecuador and Colombia; wet, forested slopes of the Andes, at higher elevations, from 1200 to 2600 m.

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