Globba mollis Sangvir. & M.F.Newman, 2021

Sangvirotjanapat, Sunisa & Newman, M. F., 2021, Eight new species of Globba (Zingiberaceae) from Thailand and Lao PDR, Phytotaxa 505 (2), pp. 139-156 : 149-152

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.505.2.2
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DA0187F9-FFEB-260A-FF4A-FA4AFCB668EC
treatment provided by	Marcus
scientific name	Globba mollis Sangvir. & M.F.Newman
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Globba mollis Sangvir. & M.F.Newman View in CoL , sp. nov. (Subgenus Globba )

Similar to Globba expansa Wall. ex Horan. ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 , Table 2) in its erect inflorescence with caducous bracts and four-appendaged flower but differing by its leaning or arching and flattened leafy stem (vs. upright and round leafy stem), ovate, yellow bracteoles (vs. elliptic, green bracteoles) and softly pubescent leaf blades (vs. glabrous leaf blades).

Type: Accession 20135616 A, cultivated at Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Zingiberaceae nursery, 9 July 2013, Sangvirotjanapat 687 (holotype QBG). Originally collected in THAILAND. Nan Province, Mae Charim district . Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 .

Lithophytic herb, 30–50 cm tall. Leaf sheaths flattened and leaning or arching, 4–5 bladeless, minutely hairy; blades 7–9, narrowly elliptic, 5–20 × 1.5–3.2 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, apex caudate, plicate, softly pubescent below and above, green; petiole to c. 5 mm long or sessile; ligule truncate or shallowly bilobed, c. 2 mm long, puberulent. Inflorescence erect, lax, secund, c. 13 × 4 cm; peduncle 1.5–3 cm long, green, hairy; rachis green, puberulent; bracts caducous, triangular, 1–3 × 1–1.5 mm, green; bracteoles caducous, ovate or round, 8–10 × 6–10 mm, keeled, glabrous, yellowish orange, apex mucronate; cincinni 0.8–2.2 cm long, flowers crowded at tip. Flowers 3–3.2 cm long; ovary ellipsoid, c. 3 × 2 mm, pale yellow; style filiform, stigma cup-shaped, ostiole ciliate, calyx infundibuliform, 3–4 mm long, unequally trilobed with acute apices, yellow; floral tube 12–15 mm beyond calyx, hairs sparse, yellow; dorsal corolla lobe hooded, c. 6 × 1 mm, yellow, apex obtuse; lateral corolla lobes hooded, elliptic, c. 5 × 1 mm, yellow, apex obtuse; lateral staminodes elliptic, c. 12 × 6 mm, yellow, about twice as long as lateral corolla lobes, apex obtuse; labellum obtriangular, c. 9 × 5 mm, base truncate, apex bilobed, lobes acute, spot absent, nectar tube c. 5 mm long; stamen: filament c. 26 mm long, yellow; anther elliptic, c. 2 × 1 mm, connective tissue semitransparent, orange, appendages triangular, bifid nearly to base, c. 3 × 1 mm long, upper pair bigger, base covering whole side of anther, apex acuminate, curved, semitransparent, orange. Fruit ellipsoid or globose, c. 10–12 × 8 mm, smooth, green; seeds not seen. Bulbils produced along peduncle, ovoid, c. 5 × 3 mm, corky.

Etymology: Latin mollis , soft, referring to the feel of the leaves.

Distribution: Endemic to Thailand, Nan province.

Proposed IUCN conservation status: Data Deficient (DD). This species is known from one locality in Mae Charim district. It is not a protected area but neither is it under threat from human activity. This species may be expected in other limestone hills in Nan and nearby provinces which have not yet been explored. Until these hills have been surveyed, therefore, Globba mollis is assessed as Data Deficient.

Ecology: Growing on limestone bedrock in partial shade.

Notes: This lithophytic species is only known from one locality in Nan province and is distinct by its leaning or arching leafy stems with softly pubescent leaves, and upright inflorescence. Globba mollis has some characters of Globba section Nudae , namely erect inflorescences with small and caducous bracts, and flowers with four anther appendages but, crucially, andromonoecy has not been observed. Until further evidence becomes available, this species is classified in Globba subgenus Globba but not into a section.