Monograph of African Costaceae
Author
Kamer 1, H. Maas-van de
Author
Maas 1, P. J. M.
Author
Wieringa 1, J. J.
Author
Specht, C. D.
text
Blumea
2016
2016-12-28
61
3
280
318
http://dx.doi.org/10.3767/000651916x694445
journal article
10.3767/000651916X694445
7570023
5.
Costus dinklagei
K.Schum.
—
Plate 1d
;
Map 4
Costus dinklagei
K.Schum. (1904)
408. — Type:
Dinklage 987
(holo
B
de-stroyed),
Cameroon
,
South Province
,
Gross-Batanga. As
the holotype at
Berlin
was destroyed and no other original material has been located,
we hereby select a
neotype
from a locality not far from the type locality:
Van Andel
et al.3549
(neo
WAG
2
sheets [
WAG0146035
,
WAG0380166
]
;
isoneo
KRIBI
,
SCA
,
U
[
U0064546
], WAG-spirit [
WAG0028342
],
YA
),
Cameroon
,
South Province
,
Mont d’Ėléphant
,
road Bidou-Akom II
, foot of the hill,
23 m
,
10 June 2001
.
Terrestrial herb
1–3 m
tall.
Leaves
many; sheaths 0.5–2.5(–3) cm diam; ligule chartaceous, truncate,
10–20 mm
long; petiole
3–10 mm
long; sheaths, ligule and petiole hairy as the lower side of the leaves; lamina narrowly elliptic, sometimes narrowly obovate, 15–40 by
5–13 cm
, upper side glabrous, lower side densely to sparsely covered with erect to appressed brown hairs
0.5–2 mm
long, base acute, apex acuminate (acumen
15–40 mm
long).
Inflorescence
many-flowered, ovoid to ellipsoid, 4–15 by
2.5–6 cm
, terminating a separate leafless shoot
5–30 cm
long, rarely terminating a leafy shoot; bracts, bracteoles, calyx, ovary and capsule densely covered with erect hairs <
1 mm
long.
Flowers
1 per bract; bracts green to dark green, sometimes reddish, coriaceous, broadly ovate-elliptic, 1.5–5.5 by
1–3.5 cm
, callus
1–2 mm
long; appendages ab-sent; bracteole boat-shaped,
16–35 mm
long, callus
3–4 mm
long; calyx
12–20 mm
long, lobes shallowly to broadly ovatetriangular,
2–6 mm
long, callus
1–2 mm
long; corolla hyaline, white to pale pinkish,
45–55 mm
long, glabrous, tube
15–20 mm
long, lobes narrowly elliptic,
30–40 mm
long; labellum at the outer side white to (pale)pink, inner side white to pink with darker coloured margin and often pale yellow nectar guide, funnel-shaped, broadly obovate when spread out, 40–60 by
30–50 mm
, margin crenate or undulate, fimbriate; stamen white, 20–35 by
10–13 mm
, apex pink, anther
6–7 mm
long.
Capsule
not seen.
Seeds
c. 2 by
1 mm
.
Distribution — West Africa (Nigeria); Central Africa (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon).
H. Maas-van de Kamer et al.: Monograph of African
Costaceae
|
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Map 5
Distribution of
Costus dubius
(Afzel.) K. Schum.
Map 4
Distribution of
Costus dinklagei
K. Schum.
(●) and
C. ligularis
Baker
|
(■).
Habitat & Ecology — In rainforest, often near streams or in wet places, on clay soil, at elevations of
0–1100 m
. Flowering and fruiting: from March to July and in December.
IUCN Conservation Status — Near Threatened.
Notes —
Costus dinklagei
can be recognized by its inflorescence terminating a separate leafless shoot with 1-flowered bracts and hyaline whitish erect corolla lobes. The labellum is white to pale pink with yellow nectar guide, basally funnelshaped but with the upper part horizontally flattened. The lower side of the leaf lamina, the sheaths and the petioles are hairy. The apex of the stamen of
C. dinklagei
is narrowly triangular (Hallé 1967).
Costus dinklagei
can be confused with
C. dubius
both having a basal inflorescence with green, unappendaged bracts, but
C. dinklagei
has hyaline, whitish corolla lobes and a white to pale pink labellum with yellow nectar guide and dark pink margin, whereas in
C. dubius
the white corolla lobes are not hyaline and the labellum is white with only a yellow nectar guide. Moreover, in
C. dinklagei
the lower side of the lamina, the petioles and the sheaths are distinctly hairy, while all vegetative parts are glabrous in
C. dubius
.