Languas scorpioidea Quisumb. & Merr.

Docot, Rudolph Valentino A., Haevermans, Thomas & Poulsen, Axel Dalberg, 2025, Is Alpinia luteocarpa the correct scientific name for the ornamental red bamboo ginger?, Willdenowia 55 (1), pp. 79-90 : 87-89

Languas scorpioidea Quisumb. & Merr. in Philipp. J. Sci. 37: 139. 1928 (‘ scorpoidea ’). – Lectotype (designated here): Philippines, Mindanao, Davao Oriental, Mati , 16 Apr 1927, M. Ramos & G. E. Edaño 48947 (US [barcode 00092938]; isolectotypes: B [barcode B 10 1022674], BO [no. 0031789], K [barcode K000292459], NY [barcode 00320262]). – Fig. 5.

Description — Terrestrial herb forming a loose clump. Rhizome 5–6.5 cm in diam., red, scales thin, 3–4 × 1.5– 2 cm, glabrous, brown, margin pubescent, apex acute. Pseudostem 2–3 m long, distance between two leafy shoots 15–20 cm, base 10–11 cm in diam., reddish white, with 60–70 laminae per shoot; sheaths glabrous, mid- to light green; ligule shallowly bilobed, 1–3 mm long, glabrous or pubescent, light green, base reddish; lamina sessile, linear, 11–47 × 2–3 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, light green abaxially, mid-green adaxially, non-plicate, subcoriaceous, base subcordate, margin entire, apex sharply attenuate. Inflorescence terminal, panicle, to 20 cm long, variously arching; free part of peduncle 1.5–8.5 cm long, glabrous to slightly puberulous, light green; rachis to 18.5 cm long, slightly puberulous, light green; cincinni 3–6, sessile, alternately arranged along rachis, 3–5 cm apart, elongate to 20 cm; bracts open to base, ovate to oblong, 25–60 × 8–18 mm, puberulous, light green, brown with age, both surfaces shiny, apex acute; pedicels 22–40 mm long, proximal ¼ below insertion of bracteole slightly puberulous when young, becoming densely pubescent with age, hairs black and glandular, reddish white; bracteoles distichously arranged, spathaceous, 23–25 mm long, keeled, split to 10 mm from apex, puberulous or densely puberulous, deep red, brown with age, apex mucronate, mucro to 1 mm long, pubescent. Flowers 3–7 cm long, up to 50 per cincinnus; calyx tube spathaceous, 20–22 mm long, split to 15 mm from apex, glabrous to pubescent, deep red, apex 2- or 3-dentate, with few hairs; floral tube 18–20 mm long, glabrous at base, pubescent toward apex inside and outside, yellowish white; dorsal corolla lobe ovate to obovate, 19–20 × 18–20 mm, concave, glabrous, yellow, central part thickened and tinged red, apex acute and cucullate, appearing shallowly trilobed when flattened, central lobe acute and cucullate; lateral corolla lobes narrowly ovate, 18–20 × 12–14 mm, glabrous, yellow, central part thickened, lobes overlapping, apex acute and cucullate; labellum reduced, somewhat triangular, fleshy, to 5 × 5 mm, pubescent, brownish white or yellowish white, apex 3-dentate; lateral staminodes absent; stamen 15–16 mm long; filament 3.5–4 × 2.5–3 mm, densely pubescent, cream-white; anther 10–12 × 3.5–5 mm, connective densely pubescent, yellowish white; anther crest c. 2 × 3 mm, petaloid, glabrous, light yellow, apex truncate; thecae 10–11 × 2–2.5 mm, pubescent, yellowish white, dehiscing from c. 2 mm above base of theca to c. 1 mm below apex; style 30–35 mm long, densely pilose, white; stigma funnel-shaped, somewhat flattened, c. 3 × 4 mm, white tinged pink at base, ostiole elliptic, with hairs; epigynous gland globose, c. 4 × 4 mm, glabrous, yellow, enclosing base of style; ovary subglobose, 8–9 × 6–7 mm, trilocular, glabrous, light green, coriaceous, placentation axile. Fruit oblong-obovoid, c. 4 × 2.2 cm, somewhat angled, glabrous; seeds 3.5–4 × c. 3 mm, glabrous, light reddish brown.

Etymology — The epithet refers to the scorpioid inflorescence (with flowers alternate on opposite sides of the rachis). Quisumbing & Merrill (1928) wrote ‘ scorpoidea ’ in the protologue, which is an orthographical error and here corrected to scorpioidea ( Turland & al. 2018: Art. 60.1).

Distribution — Languas scorpioidea is endemic in the Philippines, occurring in the provinces of Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental ( Fig. 3).

Habitat — Found in semi-shaded secondary forest near streams up to 466 m elevation.

Phenology — Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Provisional conservation status — Using the IUCN red list categories and criteria ( IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee 2022), Languas scorpioidea is preliminarily assessed as Vulnerable (VU B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii); D). The area of occupancy (AOO) is estimated to be less than 2000 km 2 (total AOO is 24 km 2) while the extent of occurrence (EOO) is estimated to be less than 20,000 km 2 (total EOO is 5708.42 km 2). Only one of the six sites was physically observed (Tarragona, Davao Oriental) and 50–100 mature individuals were observed in semidisturbed forest near streams. Conversion of forests into agricultural and residential areas is the major threat observed. The assessment will be updated as more information becomes available.

Remarks — As in the case of Kolowratia eruciformis, Smith (1990) intended to combine this species in Alpinia but did not do it formally, not having examined a labellum from the type. Our unpublished molecular data demonstrate that Languas scorpioidea is not grouped in the clade where A. galanga is located and, as in the case of K. eruciformis , it is not meaningful to publish a combination in Alpinia at the moment, pending revision and recircumscription of the genus.

Unfortunately , we failed during fieldwork to obtain a fruit, but we examined the material at BO with a fruit that matched the original description. No local uses were documented. The material in US has the most complete parts including a dried flower and is therefore designated here as the lectotype .

Selected specimens examined — PHILIPPINES: MINDANAO: DAVAO DE ORO: Compostela valley, 1 May 1955, J. V. Pancho 33260 ( PNH) ; 320 m, 2 May 1955, J. V. Pascual 44 ( CAHUP) . — DAVAO DEL NORTE: Santa Cruz , 13 Jun 1905, R. S. Williams 2902 ( NY) ; Tonkaran , Aug 1933, R. Kanehira 2588 ( NY) . — DAVAO ORIENTAL: Tarragona, Barangay Tomoang, Mount Mayo , 07°05'19.65"N, 126°21'37.45"E, 466 m, 6 Nov 2023, R. V. A. Docot & al. 470 (E, L, FEUH incl. spirit, P, PNH, SING) .