Etlingera of Sulawesi

About this book

Language: English

The ginger genus Etlingera Giseke, a genus of Indo-Pacific terrestrial and perennial herbs in the ginger family, is mostly found in evergreen equatorial forests and has Wallace's Line. The westernmost species is probably Etlingera linguiformis (Roxb.) R.M. Sm. in Sikkim, India, and the easternmost E. cevuga (Seem.) R.M. Sm. about 14,000 km to the east on the Pacific island of Tahiti. A complete monograph of all species is still pending but likely to include between 150–200 species.

The type of the genus is Etlingera littoralis which was collected in S Thailand in 1779 by Johann Gerhard König. The genus was described by Paul Dietrich Giseke in 1792; he named it after a fellow German botanist, Andreas Ernst Etlinger. The name of the genus, however, remained unnoticed until 1986 when Burtt and Smith discovered that it had priority over several other generic names that had been published in the meantime including some which are entirely synonymous with Etlingera (Geanthus Reinw. (1826), Diracodes Blume (1827), Achasma Griff. (1851), Nicolaia Horaninow (1862), Phaeomeria (Ridl.) K. Schum. in 1904), as well as some species formerly placed in Alpinia Roxb., Amomum Roxb., Elettaria Maton, or Hornstedtia Retz.

Etlingera littoralis has a long labellum which was considered a characteristic of the genus Achasma. Species with long peduncles and a short labellum were previously placed in Nicolaia or Phaeomeria and species with short peduncle and labellum in Geanthus. A study by Pedersen (2004) based on molecular data, concluded that the genus Etlingera is monophyletic with the genus Hornstedtia as its sister group. Furthermore, Achasma- and Nicolaia-type species were mixed but a group of short-lipped species may possibly be monophyletic. The unique character common to all species of Etlingera is the staminal tube, which is formed above the insertion of the corolla lobes (Poulsen 2006).

Recent revisions have only been carried out for Peninsular Malaysia (Khaw 2001), Borneo (Smith 1986b, Poulsen 2006) and Java (Poulsen 2007). A total of 42 taxa were included in the most recent revision of the Bornean species. The present revision with 48 taxa certainly demonstrates that Sulawesi, the island just to the east of Borneo, is surprisingly rich considering that the surface area of Borneo is almost four times larger. This remarkable result immediately raises the question of what the explanation might be.

The 48 taxa of Etlingera from Sulawesi in the present revision comprise three previously published names, six new combinations, one new name, 36 new species, and two new subspecies. In addition, six names are synonymized.

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: The Island 3
Chapter 3: The Plant 5
- Vegetative characters 5
- The flowering shoot 6
- The flower 7
- Infructescence, fruit and seed 10

Chapter 4: Etlingera in Sulawesi 15
- History of ginger research 15
- Informal groups 22
- Origin and evolution 22
- Borneo, Sulawesi and Wallace’s Line 24
- Affinity with neighbouring islands 26
- Elevational distribution and ecology 26
- Pollination 29
- Flexistyly 30
- Ethnobotany 30
- Distribution and conservation 32

Chapter 5: Material and Methods 35
- Collections 35
- Collecting gingers 37
- Measurements and terminology 38
- Abbreviations 41
- Species concept 42

Key to the species of Etlingera in Sulawesi 43
1. Etlingera acanthodes 49
2. Etlingera aculeatissima 54
3. Etlingera alba 58
4. Etlingera aulocheilos 70
5. Etlingera bicolor 73
6. Etlingera biloba 77
7. Etlingera borealis 81
8. Etlingera bullata 86
9. Etlingera calobates 90
10. Etlingera calophrys 93
11. Etlingera canarina 102
12. Etlingera caudata 106
13. Etlingera chlorodonta 110
14. Etlingera chrysantha 114
15. Etlingera cylindrica 117
16. Etlingera doliiformis 120
17. Etlingera eburnea 123
18. Etlingera echinulata 129
19. Etlingera elatior 132
20. Etlingera elegans 137
21. Etlingera elliptica 141
22. Etlingera flavovirens 143
23. Etlingera flexuosa 146
24. Etlingera grallata 153
25. Etlingera heliconiifolia 156
26. Etlingera heliconiifolia subsp. leucocheilos 164
27. Etlingera hyalina 166
28. Etlingera mendumiae 171
29. Etlingera mucida 174
30. Etlingera mucronata 179
31. Etlingera orbiculata 183
32. Etlingera orophila 187
33. Etlingera pausodipsus 191
34. Etlingera penicillata 197
35. Etlingera polycarpa 203
36. Etlingera polycarpa subsp. ligulata 210
37. Etlingera rubroloba 214
38. Etlingera sarasinorum 219
39. Etlingera serrata 225
40. Etlingera spinulosa 227
41. Etlingera stenophylla 232
42. Etlingera steringophora 234
43. Etlingera sublimata 239
44. Etlingera translucens 246
45. Etlingera tubilabrum 248
46. Etlingera urophylla 254
47. Etlingera xanthantha 257
48. Etlingera yessiae 261

- Species to be expected 264
- Material examined and identified as Etlingera sp. 264
- Excluded species 265
- Acknowledgements 267
- References 268
- Identification List 272
- Index to Vernacular Names 274
- Index to Uses 275
- Index to Scientific Names 276

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