Geocharis (K. Schum.) Ridl.

Nurainas, Nurainas, Zulaspita, Witri, Febriamansyah, Thoriq Alfath, Syamsuardi, Syamsuardi & Poulsen, Axel Dalberg, 2024, A recircumscription of Geocharis (Zingiberaceae) as a result of the discovery of a new species in Sumatra, Indonesia, PhytoKeys 244, pp. 15-22 : 15-22

Geocharis (K. Schum.) Ridl.

Alpinia Sect. Geocharis K. Schum. , Pflanzenr. IV, 46 (1904) 363.

Type.

Geocharis macrostemon (K. Schum.) Holttum (designated by De Boer et al. 2018: 31).

Description.

Terrestrial herb with creeping rhizome, rhizome scales tessellate (with markings in squares) similar to the sheath. The leafy shoot of medium height. Sheath with remarkable white-felted cross-bars between the longitudinal ribs. Flowering shoots radical; peduncle long-prostrate, ascending or erect, with cross-barred sheaths, rachis ± curved with many flowers spreading evenly in all directions or secund. Inflorescence lax, bracts never imbricate, ± soon falling off, subtending at least two flowers in the lowermost bracts. Bracteole tubular at least at the very base. Flowers orange to red, shortly pedicellate. Calyx tubular, trilobed, apices toothed. Floral tube as long as calyx or longer. Dorsal corolla lobe larger than the laterals, enclosing the filament. Staminal tube (formed by fusion of labellum and filament) present above insertion of corolla lobes. Labellum narrow, deeply bilobed, incised in upper half or to base, lobes ± linear. Staminodes fused with filament forming a semi-tube broader than anther, apices tooth-like just below the anther. Anther oblong, crest entire, cucullate; thecae parallel, dehiscing through their entire length. Ovary globose to ellipsoid. Epigynous gland short. Stigma obcuneate. Fruit globose to elongate, smooth or ridged, often warty, glabrous or pubescent, base of calyx persistent. Seeds angular, arillate.

Etymology.

The name means ground (geo) beauty (charis).

Distribution.

The genus Geocharis occurs in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah, and the Philippines (Fig. 1 ).

Note.

Holttum (1950) and Smith (1986) made circumscriptions of Geocharis , which we have considered and expanded, taking into account the new material resulting in the new species described below.

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution map of Geocharis. Number of species indicated for Sumatra including G. globosa described in the present paper. Map by A. D. Poulsen.