Hedychium thyrsiforme Sm.

Hedychium thyrsiforme Buch.-Ham. ex Sm. (Fig. 1) Hedychium no. 5, Cycl. 17 (Smith in Rees 1811). TYPE MATERIAL. — Nepal • Buchanan-Hamilton s.n.; lectotype: LINN [8.34!], here designated (Fig. 1A). PHENOLOGY AND ECOLOGY. — Flowering from August to September. Fruiting September to October. Flowers are not remarkably fragrant. GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION. — India (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland), Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal; this taxon is distributed at an elevation of more than 1400 m. IUCN STATUS. — We categorize it as data deficient (DD) following the IUCN guidelines (IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee 2024). ETYMOLOGY. — The specific epithet, “ thyrsiforme ”, refers to the inflorescence: panicle-like or thyrsoid (thyrsi-); resembling or shaped (-forme). VERNACULAR NAME. — Pincushion Ginger Lily. MORPHOLOGICAL AFFINITIES. — Hedychium thyrsiforme closely resembles H. larsenii in its pyramidal inflorescence, white flowers, and the size of the labellum, lateral staminodes, and filament. However, the two species differ in the lengths of the bracteole, calyx, floral tube, anther, and lamina (Table 1). PHYLOGENETIC PLACEMENT. — Hedychium thyrsiforme is consistently recovered in the clade IV in phylogenetic reconstructions of the genus (Wood et al. 2000; Ashokan et al. 2022). DESCRIPTION Terrestrial, rhizomatous herb up to 1.2 m tall; rhizome branching parallel to leaf distichy, pale brown externally, creamy white internally; leafy shoot slanting with an erect inflorescence; basal sheath greenish. Leaves sessile; sheath pale green; ligule 3.2-4.8 cm wide, ovate, densely sericeous, pale green; lamina 31-44 × 8-14 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, glabrous and dark green (adaxial) and densely sericeous and pale green (abaxial); acumen 2.5-3.0 cm long, ends in a small caducous appendage; base cuneate. Inflorescence 8-13 × 6-10 cm, dense, pyramidal; rachis hidden; peduncle pubescent, green; bracts 2.5(3.2 × 1.1-1.2 cm, elliptic, puberulent, green, folded, involute, 2-6 flowered; bracteoles 2.0- 2.5 cm long, tubular, pubescent, pale green. Flowers 11.5-13.5 cm long, ascending, white (when fresh), dull white the second day, many flowers (10-15) open simultaneously, faintly fragrant; calyx 2.4-3.0 cm long, tubular, translucent, 3-toothed at tip, slightly hairy at tip, pale green; floral tube 3.4-4.2 × 0.2-0.3 cm, glabrous, erect, white; corolla lobes linear, curled, orientated downwards, glabrous, pale green; dorsal lobe 5.2-5.9 cm long, linear, curled (more curled as the flower ages), glabrous, beaked at tip, embracing the filament and anther in the bud stage, pale green; lateral lobes 5.1-5.7 cm long, linear, curled (more curled as the flower ages), non-beaked at tip, glabrous, white; lateral staminodes 3.0- 3.6 cm long, widest part 0.4 cm, narrowly oblanceolate, one edge linear, obtuse, unguiculate, upper halves reflexed backwards, positioned acute (