Hedychium menghaiense X. Hu & N. Liu
• new Hedychium J. König from Yunnan, southern China
Abstract: Hedychium menghaiense X. Hu & N. Liu, a new species of the Zingiberaceae from Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is currently known only from its type locality, Nannuoshan Mountain, Menghai County, growing under evergreen broad-leaved forests at altitudes of 1400–1700 m. It is similar to Hedychium forrestii Diels, but differs in its narrower and emarginate labellum folded inwards lengthwise, narrower staminodes, and scarlet stamen. The recognition of the new species is supported by the results from analysis of sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers.
Hedychium J. König (Zingiberaceae) is an economically important genus. Many species possess flowers with a wide range of colors and fragrances and are mainly used for cut flowers. This genus is mainly distributed in tropical Asia with some species extending to Australia (Wu, 2000), characterized by flowers with very long (rarely short) filaments, dorsifixed anthers, and fragrance (Schumann, 1904; Holttum, 1950; Larsen, 1965; Sirirugsa & Larsen, 1995; Larsen et al., 1998; Wu, 2000). Because of the lack of a comprehensive taxonomic revision, the number of species in the genus has been a matter in dispute. According to recent estimates, the number varies from approximately 50 (Wu, 2000) to 80 (Sirirugsa & Larsen, 1995).
During our investigation from 2006 to 2008 of the Chinese wild species of Hedychium with potential ornamental value, we collected some plants of the genus from Nannuoshan Mountain, Menghai County, southern Yunnan, China. The plants are similar to Hedychium forrestii Diels, but differ in its smaller and emarginate labellum folded inwards lengthwise, narrower staminodes, and scarlet stamen, and thus represent a hitherto undescribed species. The results of sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) analysis also support the recognition of the new species, which we name as Hedychium menghaiense and describe below.
Hedychium menghaiense (Zingiberaceae), a new species from Yunnan, China: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1759-6831.2009.00060.x/full
