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Journal of Thai Traditional & Alternative Medicine Vol. 6 No. 1 January - April 2008 ˜ı

most to the base, and is often deeply bilobed, except and petaloid anther crests, never çZingiber-likeé, as
that of K. parviflora Wall. ex Baker. The lateral in the genus Zingiber. Also, the Kaempferia is also
staminodes are always petaloid and the anther crest distinguishable by its more or less bilobe bracteoles,
is always conspicuous and could be entire or den- while the bracteole is absent in the Cornukaempferia.
tate, straight or reflexed, and narrow or orbicular.
The Thai Taxa
Moreover, the stigma is always cup-shaped with cili-
20,21
ated rims and the stylodial glands are paired and Of the 15 taxa accounted for in Thailand, six
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needle-like. were also reported for China. K. candida Wall. was
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However, morphological features can be greatly later reported to also be found in Thailand and a
variable, even within the same taxon. Therefore, until new taxon, K. grandifolia Saensouk & Jenjitt., was
24
the range of character variation of these generic fea- also added. All currently known Thai taxa can be
tures is fully understood, a single diagnostic charac- divided into two groups, the K. galanga-group and
ter cannot be used for taxonomic decision-making. the K. rotunda-group. The former group is character-
ized by a short multiflorous inflorescence that appears
Relationship earlier before the leaves, while the latter group in-

As pointed out by Holttum (1971), the genus cludes species in which the inflorescence has few
Kaempferia L. is morphologically closely related to flowers and is terminal on the leaf-shoots. In Thai-
the genera Boesenbergia O.Kuntze and Scaphochlamys land, three species, K. candida Wall, K. grandifolia
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Baker. Both Kaempferia and Boesengergia possess Saensouk & Jenjitt., and K. rotunda L., represent the
one flower in the axil of each bract, with one or two former group. To set up baseline information on the
bracteoles. In contrast with the not-two-ranked bract genus for further studies, all the Thai taxa will be
arrangement and the often flat and bilobed labella of discussed here briefly.
the Kaempferia, those of the Boesenbergia are two-
ranked, and the labella often saccate with the distal 1. K. angustifolia Roscoe in Trans. Linn. Soc. 8: 351.
part often being entire or crenate, and often reddish 1807; Monandr. Pl. t. 04. 1828; Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 17.
toward the apex. These characters clearly are dis- 1820; Horan., Monogr.: 21. 1862; Bak. in Hook., Fl. Br.
18
tinct enough to differentiate the two genera. Ind. 6: 219. 1894; Schum. in Engl., Pflanzenr. 4(46), 20
The rhizomes of the Kaempferia are either short Heft: 86. 1904; Sirirugsa in Nord. J. Bot. 9: 259. 1989 &
fleshy elements or fleshy tuber-bearing roots, while in Thai For. Bull. (Bot.) 19: 8-9. 1992.––K. roxburghiana
those of the Scaphochlamys are less fleshy, often long Schult., Mant. 1: 83. 1822.––K. undulata Teysm. et
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creeping. The short and compact inflorescence of Binn. in Neederl. Kruidk. Arch. 3:391. 1855. (non Link
the Kaempferia comprises one flower to each bract. in Dietr. Syn.); Icon. T. 376. 1914. Plate II:5.
The flower is accompanied by a more or less deeply
Type: Bangladesh, Roxburgh s.n. (holotype K)
bilobe bracteole or by two narrow separated bracteoles.
The labellum is deeply bilobed (except K. parviflora This medicinal taxon is a variable species with
Wall. ex. Baker), the anther crest is often large and the leaves ranging from small (about 4 × 1 cm) to
petaloid, and the filament always very short, whereas quite large (14-20 × 4-10 cm). The distinguishable
those inflorescences of the Scaphochlamys consist of characteristic of this species are the erect elliptic-
several flowers to each bract; however, the labellum oblong leaves with undulate margins, the inflores-
is never so deeply bilobed, and the filament is always cence borne in the two innermost leaf-sheaths, the
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present. quadrangulate and white (with a purple blotch at the
The Kaempferia L. is also related to the genus center) anther crest (about 3.5 cm long) with a bifid
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Cornukaempferia J.Mood & K.Larsen in general habit. apex, and the glabrous ovary. The labella of this spe-
However, the Kaempferia always produces large, flat, cies are lilac with purple blotch at the center, obo-