Etymology. Named in honour of Sir George King (1840
-1909) a Scottish medical
doctor and botanist who worked in India starting in 1865 after graduation from
medical school. For a short time he was Superintendent of the Garden at Saharanpur
and Conservator of Forests in that area. From 1870
-1897, he was the Superintendent
of Calcutta Botanic Gardens. During the same period he became the first Director,
Botanical Survey of India (Burkill 1965). His contributions to botany and science
are numerous and far-reaching. The specimen King 1020
(CAL) is the first known
collection of this new species.
Additional specimens examined. BANGLADESH.
Chittagong Division. Kaptai Lake, 5 Sep
1999, Newman 980 (E; *); Chimbuk Hill, Bandarban Hill Tracts, 8 Sep 2000, Newman 990 (E;
*). BURMA.
Sagaing Division. Katha Dist., Pile R.F., 20 Aug 1915, Rogers 991 (CAL; *);
Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, 17 Jul 1997, Kress 97-5821 (US; *).
Mandalay Division.
Maymyo Hills, Jun 1888, Khan 50 (CAL; *); Mt. Popa Park,17 May 1996, Kress 96-5646 (US;
*). Shan State. 45 miles east of Pyin-Oo-Lwin, 26 Jun 2003, Kress 03-7366 (US; *). CHINA.
Yunnan Province. Xishuangbanna Prefecture (cultivated at Xishuangbanna B.G.) 1 Jul 2009,
Mood 2002 (BISH; *); Culyun Village, 49 km SW of Simao, 12 Jul 2009, Kress 09-8664 (US;
*). INDIA.
Sikkim. Teesta Valley, 22 Jul 1874,
King 1020 (CAL; *);
Assam. Nambar Forest,
8 May, 1895, Reporter 11375 (ASSAM; *). THAILAND.
Phetchabun Province. Nam Nao
vicinity, 14 May 2012, Mood & Vatcharakorn 3272 (BISH; *).
Notes.
The type selected here with a creamy white flower, dark red throat and white
apex is the most common form observed across the range and as depicted in King’s
illustration (Fig. 14). Another form has also been observed with dark pink to light
violet colouring on the apex similar to the colours of B. hamiltonii. Based on limited
observations, this latter form seems to be less robust with shorter pseudostems and
smaller diameter rhizomes. The multi-stemmed habit of B. kingii (in both forms) is
the result of the rhizome morphology—running in habit with multiple growth nodes
similar to a stolon (Fig. 15F). These runners grow outward from the initial plant in
various directions, often producing a new pseudostem at a major node. The result
can be a large, clonal population such as at the type locality, where it encompasses
over 30 m
2
with hundreds of interconnected stems (Fig. 15C). In ex situ experiments
a planted piece of broken rhizome produced a new mass of running rhizomes with
several pseudostems after one year of growth. In this vein, a specimen from Burma,
C.G. Rogers 991 (CAL)
is annotated, “Prevents the natural regeneration of Teak.” This
statement can now be understood with more clarity—B. kingii has the potential for
rapidly spreading once established in a suitable area.
Boesenbergia hamiltonii Mood, S.Dey & L.M.Prince,
sp. nov.
Boesenbergiae longiflorae (Wall.) Kuntze affinis, floribus maioribus 3.5
−
4.5 cm
longis 2.3
−
2.8 cm latis, labello elongato minus saccato albissimo signis rubris roseis
violaceisque differt.
TYPUS: Dey NU53, India, Meghalaya, Riboha District, Nongpoh, tropical, semi-
evergreen forest, steep hillside along highway, c. 350 m asl, 25º57.5'N 91º51.183'E,
July 2009 (holo CAL; iso ASSAM). (Fig. 2, 16, 18 & 19F)
80
Gard. Bull. Singapore 65(1) 2013
Gastrochilus jenkinsii Wall. ex Voigt, Hort. Suburb. Calcutt.: 572 (1845), nom.
inval., sine descr. – Voucher: Jenkins s.n. (CAL) India, Assam, Gowahatti. Bangleum
sulphureum
Ham., nom. nud. ≡ Alpinia hamiltoniana Wall., Numer. List: # 6579.
1832, nom. nud. – Voucher: Hamilton
Ao 1808 ≡ Wallich 6579A, India, Gualpura, 30
May 1808 (K-W).
Gastrochilus longiflorus auct. non Wall.: Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 69: t. 4010
(1843) (hand-coloured plate by W. Fitch; “Long-flowered Gastrochilus”); in Hook.f.,
Fl. Brit. India 6: 217 (1890) (= G. jenkinsii). – Voucher: Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag.
69: t. 4010 (1843).
Curcumorpha longiflora auct. non A.S.Rao & D.M.Verma: A.S.Rao & D.M.Verma,
Bull. Bot. Surv. India 13: 339 (1974) (“1971”) pro specim.
Deciduous herb up to 1 m tall;
rhizome to c. 2.3 cm diam., externally yellow-brown,
internally yellow; many cylindrical, tuberous roots extending from the rhizome base,
c. 12 × 0.5 cm, externally pink, internally white, sometimes with a swollen apex, c.
1 cm diam., 2 cm long; fibrous roots c. 45-50 × 0.1 cm, yellow-white, with many
secondary root hairs. Pseudostem up to c. 30 cm long, composed of leaf sheaths, base
round to oval, c. 2.5 cm. diam., several leafless sheaths at the base, green, glabrous,
leaf sheaths 12
-24 cm, longitudinally ridged, lower portion reddish, upper green,
glabrous.
Leaves 3-6 per pseudostem; petiole 8-26 cm, deeply channelled, light
green, glabrous; ligule, slightly bilobed, lobes an extension of the hyaline margin,
2 mm long, green or white, glabrous; lamina elliptical, 34
-44 × 15-19 cm, plicate,
ventrally dark green, glabrous, dorsally lighter green, glabrous with a few hairs on
the midrib, base rounded to cordate, apex acute.
Inflorescence radical, c. 3-10 per
pseudostem, up to c. 19 cm long (including peduncle) produced from the rhizome
below the pseudostem, peduncle 5
-9 × 0.8 cm, white, glabrous, basal sheaths 1-2, 3.5-
4.5 × 1
-1.5 cm, white, glabrous; spike horn-shaped, 8-11 × 2 cm. Bracts cymbiform,
4
-6, to c. 9 cm, distichously arranged, green and white, sometimes red, each bract
enclosing one flower, apex sometimes curved; bracteole cymbiform c. 5-6 × 0.4
cm, white, translucent, glabrous, open to the base, apex 2-dentate. Flowers 4
-6 per
inflorescence, up to c. 15 cm long. Calyx tubular, 2-2.4 × 0.5 cm, white, translucent,
glabrous, apex tri-dentate.
Floral tube c. 9
-12 cm long, 3-4 mm wide at the base,
white tinged with pink, glabrous externally and internally, corolla lobes (dorsal and
ventral) oblong, c. 4 × 1.2 cm, white, glabrous, margins involute; androecial tube cup-
shaped, c. 8
-10 mm long, c. 12 mm diam. at the top, white, glabrous externally and
internally. Labellum slightly saccate, elongate, 5
-5.5 cm long, 3.5-4 cm wide (when
flattened at the widest point) lip margins slightly crisped, crinkled, apex emarginate,
white, throat centre red, maculate with white showing thru as dots, colour broadening
toward the margins, ending c. 12 mm from apex, lip entirely pink to the apex, abaxial
surface with few glandular hairs; lateral staminodes obovate, 1.8 × 1.5 cm, white,
abaxial surface with few glandular hairs, apex rounded to slightly acute, margins
revolute in part. Stamen 12
-
14 mm long, filament 3 mm long, 3 mm wide at the base,
white, glabrous, anther 10
-
12 mm long, 3 mm wide (first day) then c. 8 mm wide
81
Boesenbergia longiflora and
related taxa