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Alpinia mutica

Roxb. (1810)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Monocots Order: Zingiberales Family: Zingiberaceae Genus: Alpinia

orchid ginger, small shell ginger, small shellflower

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Leafy shoots numerous from a sympodial rhizome, 1–2 m tall.

Stems: Rhizomes fibrous, creeping.

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate, distichous, oriented transverse to the rhizome. Blades narrowly lanceolate, tapered at both ends, 25–50 cm long, 5–6 cm wide. Apex acuminate. Base attenuate. Surfaces glabrous, slightly ciliate along margins near apex; sheaths green or purple–flecked. Margins entire. Veins pinnate, parallel. Petioles ca. 2–2.5 cm long, slender; ligules 5–8 mm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers few to numerous, thyrses terminal on leafy shoots, erect, 6–18 cm long, densely minutely pubescent, primary bracts absent, cincinni 2–4–flowered, bracteoles caducous, 5–15 mm long, not tubular; floral tube shorter than calyx. Flowers bisexual (perfect), fragrant, zygomorphic, pedicellate. Calyx 3-lobed, the lobes unequal, white, funnelform,1.5–2 cm long, sparsely pubescent, the lobes pubescent, deeply split at anthesis. Corolla adnate with the stamens into a floral tube, distally 3-lobed; corolla lobes unequal, lobes white, oblong, 2.5–3 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Stamens 5, in 2 whorls, only the posterior one of the inner whorl fertile, the other 2 members of inner whorl connate to form a highly variable, often conspicuous labellum; labellum yellow, spotted basally, apically veined with crimson, with a raised, dark red, glabrous swelling at base on each side, broadly ovate, somewhat 3-lobed, ruffled along margins, 3–3.5 cm long; lateral staminodes absent; stamen as long as corolla; filament white, tinged pink, short-channeled; anther yellow, ca. 2 mm long, unappendaged. Ovary inferior, with 2 variously developed apical nectary glands, 3-celled, sometimes incompletely so, rarely 1-celled, placentation axile, parietal (or essentially basal), or rarely free-central; ovules usually numerous; style filiform, often enveloped in a groove of the fertile stamen and embraced by the thecae; stigma various, often papillose and protruding beyond anther. Ovary ca. 5 mm long and 4 mm wide, silky pubescent.

Fruit: Fruit reddish orange; subglobose; 1.5–2.5 cm wide; minutely pubescent; indehiscent but rupturing in 3 cells under pressure. Seeds ca. 8 per cell; black; angled; fragrant; aril thin; white.

Ploidy: 2n = 48

Habitat: Sparingly naturalized in mesic valleys.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

  • Yes

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Potentially naturalizing
O'ahu Potentially naturalizing
Maui Potentially naturalizing

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Specimens

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Notes

  • Description digitized by Tim
  • First naturalized collection made in 1964 (Crosby & Anderson 1391, BISH), but first recorded as a cultivated ornamental in 1930
  • Native from Indo-China throughout the Malay Peninsula to Borneo and frequently cultivated; in Hawai'i occasionally cultivated

Bibliography

Name Published In: Asiat. Res. 11: 354 (1810)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1617 (O); Staples & Herbst 2005:760 (KEY, DESCR); Brock et al. 2023:144 (K)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Alpinia mutica Honolulu; 622 Judd Street Preserved_Specimen Judd Jr., A.F. Oahu BISH 1930-11-12
2 Alpinia mutica [Hawaiian Islands; U.S.A.; O`ahu; Hawai`i; Honolulu] Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 8107 Oahu BISH 1932-01-20
3 Alpinia mutica Honolulu; 622 Judd St., residence of A. F. Judd Preserved_Specimen Judd Jr., A.F. 68 Oahu BISH 1927-07-10
4 Alpinia mutica Honolulu: 622 Judd Street Preserved_Specimen Judd Jr., A.F. Oahu BISH 1930-11-12
5 Alpinia mutica Waihee Valley. UTM 618338, 2371832 Wet to Mesic lowland forest, about 30 m up slope from main stream in open understory. Preserved_Specimen 2 m tall rhizomatous herb forming small thicket. No flowers seen. Fruits in three sections, red-orange, pubescent, seeds black with white arils. Spicy ginger-pine scent. OED 2007060401 Oahu BISH 2007-06-04
6 Alpinia mutica East Maui, Makawao District, Huelo, in residential area adjacent to pastures on old Hana Hwy In a thicket spreading from a yard. Cascading down steep bank. Associated vegetation: Ficus cf. platypoda, Andropogon virginicus, Eucalyptus. Preserved_Specimen Ginger-like herb, erect, ca. 1m ht. Foliage green; flowers not seen; fruits green turning red, slightly pubescent, with remnants of floral parts at top, many seeds inside husk-like shell. Starr, F. 12062 Maui BISH 2000-12-06
7 Alpinia mutica Honolulu: 622 Judd Street Preserved_Specimen Judd Jr., A.F. Oahu BISH 1930-11-12
8 Alpinia mutica Honolulu; 622 Judd Street Preserved_Specimen Judd Jr., A.F. Oahu BISH 1930-11-12
9 Alpinia mutica Hanalei District. Haena, along Kuhio HWY (560), at intersection with Limahuli stream. In wet shady alien-dominated forest. Apparently naturalized; many individuals present on both sides of the highway, spreadling along stream and into forest understory. Growing with Molineria capitulata, Syzygium cumini and Epipremnum aureum. Preserved_Specimen Erect grass-looking herb; leaves dark green, sheaths/ligule with reddish edges; flowers not present at time of collection; fruits dull red, globose. Brock, K. 980 Kauai BISH 2017-05-09
10 Alpinia mutica East Maui, Makawao District, Huelo, in residential area adjacent to pastures on old Hana Hwy In a thicket spreading from a yard. Cascading down steep bank. Associated vegetation: Ficus cf. platypoda, Andropogon virginicus, Eucalyptus. Preserved_Specimen Ginger-like herb, erect, ca. 1m ht. Foliage green; flowers not seen; fruits green turning red, slightly pubescent, with remnants of floral parts at top, many seeds inside husk-like shell. Starr, F. 12062 Maui BISH 2000-12-06
11 Alpinia mutica Honolulu; 2245 Oahu Ave., garden of E. M. Ehrhorn Preserved_Specimen Herb 3 m. high; buds white; perianth white except for yellow lip lined with brownish. St.John, H. 20033 Oahu BISH 1939-05-01
12 Alpinia mutica Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 10870 Oahu BISH 1935-09-03
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