Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. B, 44(1), pp. 31–39, February 22, 2018

Contributions to the Flora of Myanmar I:
Nine taxa of monocots newly recorded from Myanmar
Nobuyuki Tanaka1,*, Shuichiro Tagane2, Akiyo Naiki 3, Mu Mu Aung4,
Noriyuki Tanaka5, Santanu Dey6, John Mood7 and Jin Murata8
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,
Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819–0395, Japan
3
Iriomote Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus,
Uehara 870, Taketomi-cho, Yaeyama-gun, Okinawa 907–1541, Japan
4
Forest Research Institute, Forest Department, Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Conservation, Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
5
Otsuka 98–11, Hachioji, Tokyo 192–0352, Japan
6
Department of Botany, Nagaland University, Lumami-798627, Nagaland, India
7
Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawaii, 3860 Manoa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
8
Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Sciences, the University of Tokyo,
Hakusan 3–7–1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112–0001, Japan*E-mail: nobuyuki_tanaka@kahaku.go.jp(Received 30 October 2017; accepted 20 December 2017)

Abstract We have conducted ﬁeld explorations in several regions of Myanmar with the aim of
updating our ﬂoristic knowledge of the country. As a result, the following nine monocotyledonoustaxa representing four families proved to be new to the ﬂora of Myanmar: Peliosanthes weberi (L.
Rodr.) N. Tanaka (Asparagaceae); Musa markkuana (M.Sabu, A.Joe & Sreejith) Hareesh, A.Joe &M.Sabu, M. nagensium Prain var. hongii Häkkinen, and M. sikkimensis Kurz (Musaceae); Porpax
elwesii (Rchb.f.) Rolfe (Orchidaceae); Alpinia intermedia Gagnep., Boesenbergia purpureorubra
Mood & L.M.Prince, Globba praecox Chokthaweep, K.J.Williams & Paisooks., and Zingiber
thorelii Gagnep. (Zingiberaceae). Collection data and notes on the taxonomic and phytogeographical aspects of these taxa are provided.
Key words: Asparagaceae, Musaceae, Myanmar, new record, Orchidaceae, Zingiberaceae.

Introduction
Myanmar is known as the “ﬂoristic blank”
among Continental Southeast Asian countries,
yet it embraces rich ﬂoral and faunal diversity
from the mangrove forests and coral reefs of theAndaman Islands in the south, to the snowcapped peaks of Mt. Kakaboradzi (5,881 m) in
the north, the highest mountain in Southeast
Asia. However, an inventory in Myanmar is far
from being complete with only limited specimens to be found in the worldʼs herbaria. Conse-

quently, much remains to be understood concerning its ﬂora as well as of its ﬂoristic relations
with neighboring regions of Asia (Tanaka, 2005;
Tanaka, 2010).
Thus far we have been revising the Myanmar
ﬂora, the decade-long continuous inventory studies have discovered many new species, newrecords and noteworthy plant collections asmaterials for the ﬂora of Myanmar (Tanaka et al.,2006, 2007, 2009, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2011,2015, 2016; Tanaka and Nagamasu, 2006;
Tanaka and Hughes, 2007; Ito et al., 2009;

Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

32

Murata et al., 2010; Yukawa et al., 2010; Tanaka
and Hayami, 2011; Tanaka, 2012a, 2012b;
Tanaka and Peng, 2016; Tanaka and Aung,2017).
However, many regions in Myanmar still lacksufﬁcient ﬂoristic inventories. Among them, thenorthwestern (Kachin State and Sagaing Region)and southern peninsular regions including the
Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea (formerly Tenasserim) are considered as the mostunder-collected. To help improve this situation,
the National Museum of Nature and Science(Japan) and Forest Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation(Myanmar), have newly started an inventory
project to provide contributions to the Flora of
Myanmar since 2016.
Field explorations were carried out in the Hta-

Fig. 1. Map of study sites. Solid circles are showing our explored sites 2016–2018. A. The Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Region. B.
Tanintharyi Nature Reserve, in northeast ofDawei. C. Palaw, vicinity of Myeik. D. Lampi
Island Marine National Park, Tanintharyi
Region.

manthi Wildlife Sanctuary (Fig. 1-A), Sagaing
Region, Tanintharyi Nature Reserve (Fig. 1-B),
in the vicinity of Dawei (formerly Tavoy), Palawin the vicinity of Myeik (formerly Mergui) (Fig.
1-C), and Lampi Island Marine National Park
(Fig. 1-D), Tanintharyi Region, from 2016
through 2017. Additionally, earlier ﬁeld collections from Kachin State and Shan State were also
examined at TI and TNS herbarium. As a result,nine taxa of monocots representing four families
were newly recorded from Myanmar.
Newly Recorded Taxa
ASPARAGACEAE
Peliosanthes weberi (L.Rodr.) N.Tanaka in
Novon 14: 362 (2004). Fig. 2-A.
Neolourya weberi L. Rodr. in Bull. Mus. Natl.
Hist. Nat., sér. 2, 6: 97 (1934).
Specimen examined: MYANMAR. TANINTHARYI REGION: On the hill, near Mawtaung
Pass, boader of Thailand, Mawtaung Township,
N11°46′59.3″, E99°38′27.5″, Tagane et al.
MY289 (RAF, TNS).
Distribution: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, andVietnam.
Note: Rodriguez (1934) founded Neolourya
L.Rodr. on the basis of two species from Vietnam, N. weberi L.Rodr. and N. pierrei L.Rodr.
This genus was later regarded as congeneric with
Peliosanthes Andrews (Hutchinson, 1959,
Tanaka, 2004). When transferring Neolourya to
Peliosanthes, Tanaka (2004) merged N. pierrei
and N. thailandica K.Larsen (from Thailand) into
P. weberi. This broadly circumscribed P. weberi
has been known from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, but not from Myanmar.
At a site near Mawtaung Pass in the southernmost peninsular region of Myanmar, which isnear the border with Thailand, we came across a
species of Peliosanthes. It has nodding funnelshaped green ﬂowers, perfectly inferior ovaries,and slender terete styles. We identiﬁed the plantas P. weberi, since it basically matches the latter.
This is the ﬁrst record of P. weberi for Myanmar,and the record represents the speciesʼ westernmost distribution.

Contributions to the Flora of Myanmar I

33

Fig. 2. A. Peliosanthes weberi (L.Rodr.) N.Tanaka (Asparagaceae). B. Musa markkuana (M.Sabu, A.Joe &Sreejith) Hareesh, A.Joe & M.Sabu. C, D. Musa nagensium Prain var. hongii Häkkinen (Musaceae).

In Peliosanthes weberi, several of the six freedistal portions of monadelphous stamens are usually strongly incurved and largely hidden by theunited proximal portion of the ﬁlaments (staminal corona), and the style is more or less helicoid(Larsen, 1966; Tanaka, 2004). In contrast, in the

34

Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

specimen from Myanmar (Tagane et al. MY289
in TNS), all six free portions of the stamens are
weakly incurved and scarcely hidden, and thestyle is little helicoid. These traits may represent
local variations of this wide spread species.
MUSACEAE
Musa markkuana (M.Sabu, A.Joe & Sreejith)
Hareesh, A.Joe & M.Sabu in Phytotaxa 303: 283(2017). Fig. 2-B.
Musa velutina H.Wendl.& Drude subsp. markkuana M.Sabu, A.Joe & Sreejith in Phytotaxa 92:
50 (2013).
Specimen examined: MYANMAR. KACHINSTATE: Along the Ledo Road between Shinbwiyang and Tanain, N26°56′00″, E96°52′00″,
Murata et al. 041625 (MBK, TI).
Distribution: India and Myanmar.
Note: Musa markkuana was ﬁrstly describedas subspecies of M. velutina H.Wendl. & Drude(Sabu et al., 2013), however, at a later date,
Hareesh et al. (2017) taxonomically re-evaluatedits entity based on comparison of anatomical andpalynological characters. Presently M. markkuana is accepted as a distinct species. Musamarkkuana has been recorded in Arunachal
Pradesh and Nagaland, eastern India. This study
revealed that M. markkuana was distributed fromeastern India to northwestern Myanmar.
Musa nagensium Prain var. hongii Häkkinen in
Novon 18: 337 (2008). Fig. 2-C, D.
Specimens examined: MYANMAR. KACHINSTATE: 9 miles from Shinbweyan toward
Pansaung, near the border of Sagaing Region.
N26°47′15″, E96°12′30″, alt. 1,080 m., Murata et
al. 041291 (MBK, TI); along the Ledo Road,
between Namyung and Shinbwiyang, 5-7 miles
from Shinbwiyang toward Namyung, in borderarea of Sagaing Region, N26°42′32″–45′48″,
E96°11′55″–13′01″, Tanaka et al. 041457 (MBK,
TI).
Distribution: China, India and Myanmar.
Note: Musa nagensium Prain var. hongii has
been reported only from Yingjiang District of
Yunnan Province, southwestern China, andnorthern India, and some unauthenticated reports
are also from Myitkyina District, Kachin State,northern Myanmar (Gogoi, 2013). Var. hongii
looked very common along the Ledo Road
toward the Pansaung Pass of the Indian Border as
the result of the ﬁeld work. This is the ﬁrst record
based on the voucher specimens from Myanmarside. This variety is characterized by having
leaves with prominently glaucous lower surfaces(Fig. 2-D).
Musa sikkimensis Kurz in J. Agric. Soc. India,
n.s., 5: 164 (1878). Fig. 3-A, B.
Specimen examined: MYANMAR. SAGAINREGION: Along the Nam Ei Zu River, Nam Ei
Zu,
Htamanthi
Wildlife
Sanctuary,
N25°29′51.16″, E95°26′01.11″, 172 m alt.,
Tanaka et al. MY896 (RAF, TNS).
Distribution: India and Myanmar.
Note: Musa sikkimensis is known as Darjeeling banana, and characterized by having dull purple inﬂorescence bracts, and depressed, irregularly angular seeds (Kurz, 1878). The plantcollected from the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary
along Nam Ei Zu River, a branch of the upper
Chindwin was identiﬁed as M. sikkimensis. Musasikkimensis is usually growing at more than
1,000 m elevation (Noltie, 1994), however, interestingly this species was discovered in a lowland
at ca. 200 m elev. in Myanmar side. Our collection site is eastern foothill of Myanmar Nagaland.
ORCHIDACEAE
Porpax elwesii (Rchb.f.) Rolfe in Orchid. Rev.
16: 8 (1908). Fig. 3-C.
Specimens examined: MYANMAR. TANINTHARYI REGION: Thet Kal Kwet, Yephu
Township, N14°23′22.3″, E98°11′16.3″, Tanaka
et al. MY1731 (RAF, TNS); along the trail to thewaterfall, behind of Tanintharyi Nature Reserve
Project Ofﬁce, Yephu Township, N14°13′2.3″,
E98°2′54.2″, Tanaka et al. MY1732 (RAF, TNS).
Distribution: Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia(Peninsular), Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, andVietnam.

Contributions to the Flora of Myanmar I

35

Fig. 3. A. & B. Musa sikkimensis Kurz. C. Porpax elwesii (Rchb.f.) Rolfe (Orchidaceae).

Note: Due to lack of the specimen accumulation, Myanmar is a distribution hole for P. elwesii
between Himalaya and other Indochinese
Regions. Our specimens will bridge this distribu-

tional disjunction of the species. In both localities cited above this species are growing on rocks
along the streams. Rocks are quite dry at anthesis
in dry season but probably will be sunk into

Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

36

Fig. 4. A. Alpinia intermedia Gagnep. (Zingiberaceae). B. Boesenbergia purpureorubra Mood & L.M.Prince.
(Zingiberaceae). C. Globba praecox Chokthaweep, K.J.Williams & Paisooks. (Zingiberaceae). D. Zingiber
thorelii Gagnep. (Zingiberaceae).

Contributions to the Flora of Myanmar I

stream water during rainy season.
ZINIGIBERACEAE
Alpinia intermedia Gagnep. in Bull. Soc. Bot.
France 48: 83 (1902). Fig. 4-A.
Specimen examined: MYANMAR. SHAN
STATE: Kengtung, Mu Mu Aung 37 (RAF,
TNS).
Distribution: China, Japan, Myanmar, thePhilippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Note: Alpinia intermedia is thus far known
from eastern Asia to the Philippines and westward to Thailand. Japan is the eastern limit of the
distribution for this species and Thailand was thewestern limit (eMonocot, 2017). Our collection
in Shan State represents the westernmost limit ofthe distribution.
Boesenbergia purpureorubra Mood & L.M.
Prince in Gard. Bull. Singapore 66: 208 (2014).
Fig. 4-B.
Specimen examined: MYANMAR. TANINTHARYI REGION: Bo Cho Island, KawthaungTownship, Lampi Island Marine National Park,
N 10°40′37.8″, E 98°15′4.7″, Tanaka et al.
MY2032 (RAF, TNS).
Distribution: Myanmar (Mergui Archipelago)
and Peninsular Thailand.
Note: Boesenbergia purpureorubra wasdescribed from Peninsular Thailand (Mood et al.,2014). As was initially reported and also
observed in Myanmar, the ﬂowers open in themorning and close early the following day. As astrand species, it is most likely to be found inother coastal areas of the peninsula.
Globba praecox Chokthaweep, K.J.Williams &Paisooks. in Harvard Pap. Bot. 10: 57 (2005).
Fig. 4-C.
Specimen examined: MYANMAR: TANINTHARYI REGION. Reserved forest of Awwyatha Temple, Palaw Township, N12°56′28.83″,
E98°39′13.47″, alt. 101 m, Tanaka et al. MY204(RAF, TNS).
Distribution: Myanmar and Thailand.
Note: Globba praecox is quite unique among

37

Globba spp. due to its early ﬂowering in April,
prior to leaf production. It was described fromthe limestone areas of Kanchanaburi, Thailand,
where it was considered a very rare endemic.
This collection in peninsular Myanmar, close to
the Thai border, constitutes a new record.
Zingiber thorelii Gagnep. in Bull. Soc. Bot.
France 54: 169 (1907). Fig. 4-D.
Specimens examined: MYANMAR. KAYAH
STATE: Kyat Gu Reserved Forest, Chikae, Loikaw Township, 925 m alt., Mu Mu Aung et al. 84(TNS); Kholeso Reserved Forest, Fruso Township, 1,167 m alt., Mu Mu Aung et al. 99 (TNS).
TANINTHARYI REGION: Tanintharyi Nature
Reserve, Tanaka et al. MY2695 (RAF, TNS).
Distribution: China (south), Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand.
Note: Zingiber thorelii is often observed in
Yangon Region as well beside the cited locations,
therefore it seemed to be relatively common in
Myanmar. The young inﬂorescences are locallyeaten as vegetable, and in traditional Myanmar
curries.
Acknowledgment
This study was carried out by the international
cooperative project “Biological Inventory withspecial attention to Myanmar” as the integrated
research initiated by the National Museum of
Nature and Science, Japan based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Forest
Department, Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Conservation, Myanmar. The
authors are grateful to Forest Department of
Myanmar for permitting and supporting ourbotanical surveys in the protected areas. This
study was also partially supported by the Environment Research and Technology Developmentof the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (Fund
4-1601), and MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI (Grant
numbers
JP15H02640,
17255004
and
15K07207).

Nobuyuki Tanaka et al.

38

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