Zingiberaceae

Alpinia sp. (sp. nov.)

Binh Dinh Province, Van Canh District, Canh Lien Municipality. Fractionally logged dense dry primary evergreen broad-leaved forest on steep mountain slopes composed by granite with quartzite at elevation 600-700 m a.s.l. Terrestrial herb with procumbent (never erect) shoots 4–5 m long on very steep rocky slope. Flowers to be said violet. Occasional.

05 November 2024, L. Averyanov, Nguyen Van Canh, T. Maisak, AL3605.

All photos © - L. Averyanov

Jana Skornickova: I have never seen this in Vietnam and in all likely hood, this is new. There are some Alpinia species in Peninsular Malaysia, which have similar structure of inflorescence with fairly long branches ending with crowded cincinni of flowers, but never seen that in Vietnam. It is interesting, because there seem to be affinities between flora of Peninsular Malaysia and Vietnam. Although for gingers the species do not overlap, there seem to be pairs of taxa (genera/species) which are somewhat similar but not same.