A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

ZINGIBERACEAE 159
Spikes larpre, cylindric or ovoid, 5 to 20 cm long, the bracts orbicular,
rounded or truncate 1. Z. zerumbei
Spikes small, 5 cm long or less, the bracts ovate, cuspidate; cultivated only.
2. Z. officinale
1. Z. ZERUMBET (L.) Smith. Tumbong-aso (Tag.).
A glabrous, erect, herbaceous plant from tuberous rootstocks. Leafy
stem 0.6 to 2 m high, the leaves numerous, distichous, lanceolate to oblonglanceolate,
15 to 30 cm long, sessile or shortly petioled. Flower bearing
scape produced from the rootstocks, 10 to 30 cm long, bracteate, bearing
at its apex the ovoid to oblong or cylindric, green or red, cone-like inflo-
rescence 5 to 20 cm long. Bracts numerous, orbicular, imbricate, greenish,
turning red, holding water, 2 to 3 cm long. Flower 5 cm long, whitish or
ci-eam-colored, the tube as long as the bracts, the lip 3-lobed. (Fl. Filip.
pi. 370, Z, cassumunar.)
In thickets, common, fl. July to Oct.; throughout the Philippines, cer-
tainly introduced. Tropics of the Old World, wild and cultivated.
* 2. Z. OFFICINALE Rosc. Luya (Tag.) ; Gengibre (Sp.) ; Ginger.
An erect glabrous plant from thickened, fleshy, very aromatic rootstocks.
Stems 0.4 to 1 m high, leafy. Leaves distchous, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate,
acuminate, 15 to 25 cm long, 2 cm wide or less, base narrowed. Scape
erect, from the rootstocks, 15 to 25 cm high, covered with distant, imbricate
bracts, the spike ovoid to ellipsoid, dense, about 5 cm long. Bracts ovate,
cuspidate, about 2.5 cm long, pale-green. Calyx 1 cm long or somewhat
less. Corolla greenish-yellow, its tube less than 2 cm long, the lip oblong-
obovate, slightly marked with purplish. (Fl. Filip. pi. 131.)
Commonly cultivated, fl. Oct.-Dec. ; widely distributed in the Philippines
in cultivation. Probably a native of India, now cultivated in all tropical
countries.
6. KOLOWRATIA Presl
Coarse tall plants from underground rootstocks. Stems stout, simple,
leafy. Leaves oblong-ovate to lanceolate, large, spreading or reflexed,
petioled, the ligule prominent, entire. Inflorescence terminal, branched,
stiff, the branches short, rigid, scattered, clothed with large, oblong, per-
sistent, rather stiff, densely arranged bracts, but one flower opening at a
time. Calyx spathe-like, split down one side, 3-toothed at the apex. Co-
rolla-tube short, slightly curved, the lobes broad, the upper one erect,
concave, wider than the other two, spreading or reflexed ones. Staminodes
short, oblong or ovate, attached to the sides of the lip above the base. Lip
obovate, slightly 3-lobed or subtruncate. Filament broad, fleshy, adnate
to the corolla-tube; anther elongated, grooved on the inner face, the connective
prolonged as a flat, ovate appendage. Ovary 3-celled; ovules many;
style very slender, stigma obconic. Capsule ellipsoid, somewhat woody,
ultimately splitting into 3 valves; seeds very numerous. (In honor of Count
F. Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky of Hungary.)
Species 2, both conflned to the Philippines.
1. K. elegans Presl {Alpinia elegans K. Sch.). Tagbac, Talbac (Tag.).
A stout herbaceous plant 2 to 4 m high, nearly glabrous, the rootstocks
stout, stems swollen at the base, leafy throughout. Leaves coriace-