Etlingera is a genus in the subfamily Alpinioideae within the family of Zingiberaceae (Zingiberaceae), which to the monocots belongs. The approximately 144 species are distributed from subtropical and tropical Asia to islands in the southern Pacific. Many species are used by humans as food, aromatic and medicinal plants or as ornamental plants.
Illustration by Etlingera elatior from Curtis's botanical magazine ..., London, 1832, volume 59, plate 3192
Vegetative characteristics
Etlingera species are large, perennial herbaceous plants that reach heights of up to 8 meters. They form creeping, thick rhizomes as persistence organs. Usually robust “pseudostems” are formed from mostly many leaves.
In the lower area of the "pseudostem" there are relatively long leaf sheaths. The ligules are simple or bilobed. The large leaves are divided into petioles and lanceolate leaf blades.
Generative characteristics
A short to very long inflorescence stem develops directly from the rhizome. Above many, often conspicuous, bracts are a long tubular bract, each with a flower , in a terminal, spiked or capillary inflorescence on a flat base of inflorescence in three to four concentric circles, each with a bract.
The hermaphrodite, zygomorphic flowers are threefold with double perianths . The flower colors range from yellow to red. The three membranous sepals are fused tubular. The three petals are fused with corolla lobes, which are much shorter than the corolla tube. The crown is at least as long as the cup. Only the middle stamen of the inner circle is fertile ; it has a short, very broad stamen and is generally shorter than the labellum. The anthers bent forward has no appendages. All other stamens are transformed into staminodes and at least one or three are missing. The two lateral staminodes of the outer circle and the middle staminode of the outer circle are missing. The two lateral staminodes of the inner circle have grown together to form a so-called labellum ; it represents the most conspicuous part of the flower. The tongue-shaped labellum has three lobes that are much longer than the corolla lobes. The middle labellum flap is conspicuously colored and the two lateral flaps are folded at their base over the fertile stamen. The base of the labellum is fused with the stamen. Three fruit leaves are a dreikammerigen ovary grown with many ovules in each ovary chamber.
The fruits are in a spherical or elongated collective fruit (syncarp). The spherical to egg-shaped, fleshy capsule fruits have a smooth surface, with longitudinal grooves or rows of blunt warts and contain many seeds in each of the three fruit compartments. The seeds have an aril .
The genus Etlingera belongs to the tribe Alpinieae in the subfamily of the Alpinioideae within the family of the Zingiberaceae .
The genus Etlingera was first published in 1792 by Paul Dietrich Giseke in Praelectiones in ordines naturales plantarum ad , 202, 209. The generic name Etlingera honors the botanist Andreas Ernst Etlinger (1756–1785). Type species is Etlingera littoralis (J.König) Giseke . Synonyms for Etlingera Giseke are: Achasma handle. , Bojeria Raf. , Diracodes flower nom. rej ., Geanthus Reinw. nom. illeg., Nicolaia Horan. , Phaeomeria Lindl. ex K.Schum.
There are ways from which food or spices are obtained. Some types provide starting materials for the pharmaceutical industry . Many types of Etlingera are used in traditional Chinese medicine . Many species and their varieties are used as ornamental plants for tropical parks, gardens and as cut flowers.
Axel Dalberg Poulsen: Etlingera of Sulawesi. Natural History Publications (Borneo), 2012, ISBN 978-983-812-138-5 . (Section systematics)
Axel Dalberg Poulsen: Etlingera of Borneo , Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2006, 263 pages. (Sections Systematics and Distribution)
BL Burtt, RM Smith: Etlingera: The inclusive name for Achasma, Geanthus and Nicolaia (Zingiberaceae) , In: Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Edinburgh and Glasgow , Volume 43, 1986, pp. 235-241.
LB Pedersen: Phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Alpinioideae (Zingiberaceae), particularly Etlingera Giseke, based on nuclear and plastid DNA. , In: Plant Systematics and Evolution , Volume 245, 2004, pp. 239-258.
^ Etlingera in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
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Axel Dalberg Poulsen, BB Bau: New Species of Etlingera (Zingiberaceae) from Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. In: Edinburgh Journal of Botany , Volume 74, Issue 2, July 2017, pp. 141–148. doi: 10.1017 / S0960428617000026