Kaempferia nigrifolia Boonma & Saensouk, 2021

Kaempferia nigrifolia Boonma & Saensouk View in CoL , sp. nov. FigS. 1–3 View Fig View Fig View Fig

The new species is similar to K. pulchra Ridl. but differs in having sessile leaves, shorter (c. 1 cm long) peduncle, broadly obovate light purple staminodes with white spot at base, longer than labellum, deeply divided light purple labellum with a white spot at the base and obovate lobes, sessile stamens and white triangular anther-crest which is bend to the back and lower than the plane of the petals. Type: THAILAND, Saraburi Province, Wihan Daeng district , 70–185 m, 03.08.2018, T. Boonma 14 (holo KKU!; iso QBG!, BKF!, BK!) .

Perennial herbs, c. 3 cm tall. Rhizome vertical, ovoid, brown outside, pale yellow inside, lightly fragrant, c. 2.5 × 1.5 cm, with several fibrous roots bearing tubers. Cataphylls 2–3, lanceolate, apex acuminate, dark reddish-brown, green at base, 1– 3 cm long, hairy. Leaves 2, sessile, flat or horizontal on the ground; sheaths 2.5–3 cm long, green or green with reddish-brown, hairy; ligule membranous, 1–3 × c. 10 mm, bi-lobed with rounded apex, sparsely hairy; lamina orbicular to sub-orbicular, 12–16(–18) × 11.5–14(–16) cm, base cuneate or sub-cordate, apex acute, margins entire, widely undulate with dark reddish-brown along the margins, upper surface black or black with light grey markings, sparsely hairy (mostly at the midribbase), obviously embossed veins, lower surface grey-green with reddish-brown, veins hairy. Inflorescence enclosed by two cataphylls; peduncles less than 1.4 cm long, white with light pale green at tip, glabrous. Bracts lanceolate, 2.8–3.3 × 1.1– 1.7 cm, mucronate to acute at apex, green with brownish green at tip and pale green at base, hairy. Bracteoles lanceolate, 11.5–12.3 × c. 4 mm, translucent white, bi-lobed; lobes 5–6 mm, acuminate at apex, sparsely hairy. Flowers 24–27. Calyx tubular, translucent white, c. 2.3 cm long, with one deep incision c. 6 mm, apex acute, hairy. Corolla tube white, c. 3.5 cm long; dorsal lobe lanceolate, white, c. 1.5 × 0.32 cm, apex little hooded, acuminate; lateral lobes lanceolate, white, c. 1.3 × 0.35 cm, apex little hooded, acuminate, glabrous. Staminodes 2, broadly obovate, obtuse at apex, c. 1.9 × 1.5 cm, light purple above with white spot at base, white below, glabrous. Labellum light purple above with a white spot at base, white below, deeply divided to the edge of white spot; lobes obovate, c. 1.75 × 1.4 cm, apex rounded. Stamens sessile, white, glabrous; anthers c. 3.2 mm long; anther - crest triangular and bend to the back, c. 1.3 × 1 mm, lower than the plane of the petals, acuminate at apex, white, glabrous. Ovary spheroid, 3.5–4 × c. 2.5 mm, densely hairy; style filiform, c. 4 cm long, slender, white; stigma obconic, c. 1 × 0.8 mm, creamy white, 2-lipped, lips equal, ciliate, cilia c. 0.4 mm long; epigynous glands 2, c. 3 mm long, slender, white. Capsules sub-globose to prolate spheroid, c. 1.2 × 1 cm, densely hairy, light purple with purple veins, brown when old; seeds c. 3 × 2 mm, brown with white arils.

Vernacular name: ‘ Nillakan ’ in Thai language, refers to its black leaves.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from late May to September and fruiting from August to late October.

Habitat: Occurring at elevations of 70–185 meters above sea level, growing in sandy loam soil, moist and close to the watercourse in a deciduous forest.

Etymology: The specific epithet ‘ nigrifolia ’ is derived from two Latin words; ‘ nigrum ’ meaning ‘black ’ and ‘ folia ’ meaning ‘leaves ’ referring to its black leaves.

Distribution: Hitherto endemic to Central Thailand ( Fig. 3 View Fig ).

Key to the species of Kaempferia View in CoL in Thailand

1. Inflorescence terminal from pseudostem, appears along with leaves (subgen. Kaempferia View in CoL ) ........................................................................ 2

1. Inflorescence directly from rhizome, appears before the new leave (subgen. Protanthium) .. ...................................................................... 26

2. Leaves erect from the ground....................... 3

2. Leaves horizontal near the ground............. 13

3. Lamina filiform, linear or less than 4 cm broad ........................................................................ 4

3. Lamina lanceolate to orbicular, broader than 4 cm, ............................................................. 8

4. Leaves villous below ..................... K. spoliata View in CoL

4. Leaves glabrous ............................................. 5

5. Staminodes absent ..................... K. sisaketensis View in CoL

5. Staminodes present........................................ 6

6. Ligules present; leaves elliptic-linear to linear, 0.5–1 cm broad ............................... K. larsenii View in CoL

6. Ligules absent; leaves filiform, less than 0.5 cm broad .............................................................. 7

7. Leaves up to 14 cm; anther-crest not divided or crenate ........................................... K. fallax View in CoL

7. Leaves 15–20 cm long; anther-crest divided. .......................................................... K. filifolia View in CoL

8. Petioles ≤ 1 cm long ...................................... 9

8. Petioles> 2 to 10 cm long .......................... 10

9. Ovary glabrous; leaf-blade green, glabrous on both surfaces with wavy margins ................... ................................................... K. angustifolia View in CoL

9. Ovary sparsely hairy; leaf-blade green with dark green spots above, pubescent on both surfaces with entire margin ...... K. maculifolia View in CoL

10. Ovary glabrous; leaves glabrous on both surfaces with purple coloration at margins .... ....................................... K. mahasarakhamensis View in CoL

10. Ovary hairy; leaves pubescent below......... 11

11. Leaves tomentose on both surfaces; labellum pubescent .................................... K. koontermii View in CoL

11. Leaves glabrous above, pubescent below; labellum glabrous ........................................ 12

12. Labellum shallowly divided or emarginate; staminodes oblong, 1–1.3 × c. 0.3 cm ............ ...................................................... K. parviflora View in CoL

12. Labellum divided to the base; staminodes broadly obovate or sub-orbicular, 1.5–2 × 1– 1.7 cm .............................................. K. elegans View in CoL

13. Staminodes light brown or white .............. 14

13. Staminodes lilac, purple or violet ............... 21

14. Staminodes light brown.......... K. saraburiensis View in CoL

14. Staminodes white ........................................ 15

15. Labellum purple .......................... K. marginata View in CoL

15. Labellum white ........................................... 16

16. Leaves dull green with dark blotches ............. ............................................................. K. pardi View in CoL

16. Leaves green without dark blotches .......... 17

17. Labellum white with yellow spot at base .. 18

17. Labellum white with purple, lilac, or red .... 19

18. Leaves glabrous on both surfaces ................... ....................................................... K. roscoeana View in CoL

18. Leave glabrous above and pubescent below .. ...................................................... K. koratensis View in CoL

19. Calyx and ovary hairy; labellum white, sometimes with a darker reddish patch at the inner base of each lobe with longitudinal white line at the base of lobes .......... K. phuphanensis View in CoL

19. Calyx and ovary glabrous; labellum white with purple blotch at center or with purple marking at base ........................................................... 20

20. Bracts hairy ....................................... K. laotica View in CoL

20. Bracts glabrous ............................... K. galanga View in CoL

21. Calyx and ovary hairy ................................. 22

21. Calyx and ovary glabrous ........................... 24

22. Stigma capitate, deep red purple; anther crest reniform; leaves glaucous, green ..... K. glauca View in CoL

22. Stigma 2-lipped, creamy white or white; anther crest triangular or linear; leaves dark olivaceous black with grey markings above or black or black with light grey markings ... 23

23. Peduncles less than 1 cm long; stamens sessile; anther crest triangular and bend to the back; staminodes broadly obovate, light purple with white spot at base, longer than labellum; labellum light purple with pure white spot at base; leaves sessile, black or black with light grey markings, sparsely hairy above .............. ....................................................... K. nigrifolia View in CoL

23. Peduncles c. 7.6 cm long; stamens with very short filament; anther crest very long linear apex entire rounded, recurved; staminodes obovate, mauve, as long as labellum; labellum lilac with the base pale yellowish-white spots; leaves petiolate, dark olivaceous black with grey markings above, glabrous above ........... .......................................................... K. pulchra View in CoL

24. Calyx acute at apex ......... K. picheansoonthonii View in CoL

24. Calyx bifid at apex ...................................... 25

25. Staminodes oblong, purple; labellum obovatecuneate, purple ............................. K. siamensis View in CoL

25. Staminodes obovate, pink to light purple; labellum broadly obovate, pink to purple with two deep purple spots in the center ............... .......................................................... K. minuta View in CoL

26. Leaves horizontal, near the ground............ 27

26. Leaves erect, pseudostem well developed ... 29

27. Leaves sparsely hairy above ..... K. lopburiensis View in CoL

27. Leaves glabrous above ................................ 28

28. Staminodes broadly obovate, light purple; labellum light purple with deep purple at base ...................................................... K. udonensis View in CoL

28. Staminodes oblong, white; labellum white with pale yellow spot at base, obovate ........... .................................................... K. grandifolia View in CoL

29. Leaves less than 5 cm wide ..... K. graminifolia View in CoL

29. Leaves more than 5 cm wide ...................... 30

30. Rhizome producing several shoots ................ ...................................................... K. caespitosa View in CoL

30. Rhizome producing a single shoot ............ 31

31. Petioles more than 5 cm long..................... 32

31. Petioles sessile to sub-sessile or up to 5 cm long ...................................................................... 33

32. Labellum white to purple with deep purple at the center with prominent yellow patch from the base to sinus.......................... K. simaoensis View in CoL

32. Labellum white to purple with deep purple at the center without yellow patch ... K. rotunda View in CoL

33. Anthesis nocturnal, flower opens around 06 pm ................................................................ 34

33. Anthesis diurnal, flower opens around 05 ..... ...................................................................... 35

34. Staminodes and labellum laid on the same plane; sinus depth two-third of labellum length; anther crest with irregular tridentate apex, the middle tooth shorter and wider than the outers ....................................... K. albiflora View in CoL

34. Staminodes upright with deflexed distal half of the labellum; sinus depth half of labellum length; anther crest with bilobed apex, usually with two small teeth between lobes ............... ....................................................... K. noctiflora View in CoL

35. Leaves glabrous above ..................... K. aurora View in CoL

35. Leaves scabrous or sparsely hairy above .... 36

36. Ovary glabrous; staminodes white to purple, broadly obovate to oblong, erect with deflexed distal half of the labellum; labellum deep purple toward the base, apically bilobed, lobes narrowly obovate, rounded at apex to slightly emarginated ............................ K. kamolwaniae View in CoL

36. Ovary scabrous; staminodes light pink, broadly ovate, apex acute, laid on the same plane with labellum; labellum light pale pink with dark pink towards and almost reaching the base with white at base, respectively, deeply bilobed, each lobe obovate, apex rounded and slightly acute at tip ................................................ K. takensis View in CoL