Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. B, 41(4), pp. 155–159, November 20, 2015

A Purple Flowered New Globba (Zingiberaceae), G. bokorensis,
from Southern Cambodia
Nobuyuki Tanaka1,*, Shuichiro Tagane2, Phourin Chhang3 and Tetsukazu Yahara2
1

Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science,
Amakubo 4–1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–0005, Japan
2
Center for Asian Conservation Ecology, Kyushu University,744, Motooka, Fukuoka 819–0395, Japan
3
Institute of Forest and Wildlife Research Development, Forestry Administration,
40 Preah Norodom Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia* E-mail: nobuyuki_tanaka@kahaku.go.jp(Received 27 August 2015; accepted 24 September 2015)

Abstract Ongoing plant inventory research in Mt. Bokor, Cambodia, revealed the existence of a
distinctive new Globba (Zingiberaceae). Morphologically, it is apparently related to Globba leucantha Miq. However, the new species is distinguished from it by glabrous lamina, wholly purple
inﬂorescence and ﬂowers, longer anther crest. It is described as G. bokorensis Nob.Tanaka &Tagane in this paper.
Key words : Bokor National Park, Cambodia, Globba, new species, Zingiberaceae.

Introduction
The Zingiberaceae are the largest family in theorder Zingiberales with 53 genera and over 1200
species. Among them, the genus Globba L. is thethird largest genus of the Zingiberaceae withover 100 species, ranking in number behind only
the polyphyletic genera Alpinia and Amomum(Kress et al., 2002). The species are distributed
throughout tropical and parts of subtropical Asia,
ranging from India to southern China, south andeast to the Philippines and New Guinea with thecenter of distribution in monsoonal southeast
Asia (Kress et al., 2002; Larsen, 1996; Larsen etal., 1998, Schumann, 1904, Williams et al.,2004). In Cambodia, 12 species with one variety
of Globba have been recorded: G. adhaerensGagnep. (synonym, Globba villosula Gagnep.),
G. angcorensis Gagnep., G. bicolor Gagnep., G.
cambodgensis Gagnep., G. candida Gagnep., G.
geoffrayi Gagnep., G. macrocarpa Gagnep., G.
macrocarpa Gagnep. var. densa Gagnep., G.

marantina L. (synonym, G. barthei Gagnep.), G.
parva Gagnep., G. schomburgkii Hook.f., G. siamensis (Hemsl.) Hemsl. (synonym, G. graminifolia Gagnep.), G. thorelii Gagnep. (Gagnepain,1908; Dy Phon, 2000).
Bokor National Park, Kampot Province, southern Cambodia, covers 1,400 km2 of sandstone
tableland. The area is covered a distinctive wet
evergreen forest and showed the high plant diversity with many endemic species, which has been
regarded as one of the biodiversity hotspot areasin Indochina region (Rundel, 1999; Bunyavejchewin et al., 2011; Olson and Dinerstein, 2002;
Tagane et al., 2015a). This is because of theproximity of the Bokor Plateau (the peak at1,079 m) to the Gulf of Thailand which brings
high rainfall throughout the year (Tixier, 1979).
Above all, top of the plateau receives more than
5,000 mm of rainfall annually, resulting in aunique and well-developed dense moist evergreen forest, grassland, and sphagnum bog (Tixier, 1979; Rundel et al., 2003).

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Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

Recent inventory research on plant diversity ofBokor National Park (Tagane et al., 2015a; Naikiet al., 2015; Tagane et al., 2015b; Toyama et al.,2015) led us to discover a hitherto-undescribed
species of the genus Globba with strikingly purple inﬂorescence. It belongs to sect. Ceratanthera (Horan.) Petersen. ser. Basicalcaratae K.
Schum. with two basally attached appendages
following by Schumann (1904) and Larsen(1972). It is named G. bokorensis Nob.Tanaka &Tagane, and described here as new to science.
Globba bokorensis Nob.Tanaka & Tagane, sp.
nov. — Fig. 1
Sect. Ceratanthera (Horan.) Petersen. ser.
Basicalcaratae K.Schum.
Globba bokorensis Nob.Tanaka & Tagane isrelated to G. leucantha Miq., however, markedly
distinct by dark deep red stems with numerous
light straw-colored speckles, glabrous lamina,
purple inﬂorescence and wholly purple ﬂowers
with oblong, not reﬂexed labellum, and longextending anther crest (vs. crest not extend in G.
leucantha).
Globba leucantha auct non. Miq., Fl. Ned.
Ind., Eerste Bijv. 3: 612 (1861); Kim Y.-D. and
Cho S.-H., Biodiversity of Cambodia (2012).
Globba geoffrayi auct. non. Gagnep., Bull.
Soc. Bot. France 55 (Sess. Extraord.): 34 (1908);
Leti et al., Fl. Photogr. Cambodge : 548 (2013).
Type: CAMBODIA. Kampot Province: Bokor
National Park, in evergreen forest, 1,014 m alt.,
10°38′13.59″N, 104°02′06.37″E, 16 July 2012,
Tagane S., Fuse K., Chhang P. 3990 (holotype–TNS, isotypes–K and Herbarium of Forest
Administration of Cambodia).
Perennial herbs, 60–76 cm in height to the topof uppermost leaf sheath, often being epiphyticon trunk and rocks. Rhizomes unknown. Leafy
shoots erect, bladeless sheath 5–6, 8 to 9-leaved,
stems dark deep red with numerous light strawcolored to greenish speckles, glabrous. Basalsheaths ca. 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, glabrous.
Leaves subsessile, bright green adaxially, palegreen abaxially, glabrous on both surfaces, veinsprominent on both surfaces, lamina elliptic tolanceolate, 15–21 cm long, 2.5–4.5 cm wide, visibly plicate, margin entire, base cuneate, apex
acuminate, acumen up to 2.5 cm long, papery.
Ligule ca. 1.5 mm long, emarginate, glabrescentoutside, glabrous inside. Inﬂorescence thyrse,
terminal on leafy shoots, erect, 8–9 cm long;peduncle 1.5–3 cm long, glabrous, light strawcolored to pale purple, glabrous; rachis glabrous,
straight; inﬂorescence bracts 31–35 per inﬂorescence, bracts transversely linear, ca. 0.1 mm inheight, encircling the lower sides and bottom of
the rachis of cincinni, glabrous. Cincinni ca. 0.4–
1.4 cm long to the ﬁrst ﬂower, 1–11 mm apart on
the rachis, one per bract containing (2–)3–5 ﬂowers; bracteoles broadly elliptic to suborbicular,
3–3.5 mm long, 2.2–2.8 mm wide, glabrous,
densely glandular, purplish gradually lighter
toward the base, caducous. Flowers purple; calyxtubular, cup-shaped, ca. 4 mm long, tri-lobed,purple gradually lighter toward base, glabrous,glandular, calyx lobes triangular, (0.8–)1.5–
2.1 mm long; corolla tube 10–11.5 mm long,pubescent outside, glabrous inside; corolla lobes
elliptic to orbicular, 4.2–5 mm long, 2.3–3.2 mm
wide, apex rounded, glossy, cucullate, glabrous,glandular, dorsal ones slightly larger; lateral staminodes oblong-elliptic, ca. 4 mm long, 1 mm
wide, purple, glabrous, glandular; labellum
oblong, ca. 6.8 mm long, 3 mm wide, fused ca.
4 mm of uppermost part, apex bi-lobed, purple,pubescent along midvein inside, glabrous outside, glandular; fertile stamen with ﬁlament ca.
3.2 cm long, purple, glabrous, anther ca. 2.1 mm
long, thecae suborbicular, 1.6–1.8 mm in diam.,with two horn-like appendages, glabrous,appendage ca. 2.5 mm long; crest ca. 2 mm
extended beyond thecae, glabrous, stigma cupshaped, margin ciliate. Ovary ca. 1 mm in diam.,
glabrous to very sparsely pubescent. Epigynous(stylodial) glands linear, two, ca. 2.3 mm long,united 2.1 mm long from base. Capsules subglobose, ca. 7–8 mm in diam., trilocular, crowned bypersistent calyx, reddish brown. Seeds ellipsoid,yellowish. Bulbils not observed.
Distribution. At present this species is known

A New Globba from Southern Cambodia

157

Fig. 1. Globba bokorensis Nob.Tanaka & Tagane. A, habit. B, close up view of leafy shoot and ligules. C, inﬂorescence. D, close up lateral view of ﬂower. E, close up view of anther appendage with long crest. F, capsules.

Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

158

only from the type locality in Cambodia.
Habitat and Ecology. Occasionally found inopen Sphagnum bog and semi-shaded moist
evergreen forests on the plateau of Mt. Bokor,
often epiphytic on trunk and rocks. Floweringfrom July to August.
Other specimens examined. CAMBODIA,Kampot Province, Bokor National Park: 1,014 malt., 10°38′12.59″N, 104°02′06.37″E, 4 December 2011, Toyama et al. 1511 (FU and Herbariumof Forest Administration of Cambodia); in thesame locality, 903 m alt., 10°39′35.42″N,104°03′03.09″E, 14 May 2012, Toyama et al.
3177 (FU and Herbarium of Forest Administration of Cambodia).
Etymology. The speciﬁc epithet is derived
from the type locality, Mt. Bokor, Cambodia.
Note. Globba bokorensis Nob.Tanaka & Tagane
is related to G. leucantha Miq. which is known
to be variable species in color of ﬂowers. Ridley(1925) and Holttum (1950) recognized four
infraspeciﬁc taxa; var. bicolor Holttum, var. ﬂavidula (Ridl.) Holttum, var. peninsularis Holttum
ex S.N.Lim, and var. violacea (Ridl.) Holttum,
from Malay Peninsula in the basis of the color ofbract and ﬂower. Globba bokorensis is similar toG. leucantha, however, G. bokorensis is clearly
different from it and its infraspeciﬁc taxa in theglabrous lamina, purple inﬂorescence and wholly
purple ﬂowers with oblong labellum, and extending anther crest. Further molecular analyses areneeded to determine more precise relationships.
Acknowledgments
Authors cordially thank the Ministry of theEnvironment, Cambodia, for permitting ourbotanical inventories in Bokor National Park andits staffs for assisting our surveys in the ﬁeld. We
are grateful to Kengo Fuse for providing his photos of the new species. This study is supported bya JSPS grant for Global Center of Excellence
Program ʻAsian Conservation Ecology as a basisof human-nature mutualismʼ and partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers

23770101 and 15K07207 (to N. Tanaka), andalso the Environment Research and Technology
Development Fund (S9) of the Ministry of theEnvironment, Japan.
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