屈尺月桃

Languas kusshakuensis (Hayata) Sasaki, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Form. 14: 85. 1924. Alpinia uraiensis auct. non. Hayata: Moo, Fl. Taiwan 5: 840. 1978 (pro parte).

Plant 1.5-3.0 m. Leaves sessile to petiolate; blade 50-85 × 8-14 cm, oblong to lanceolate, tip acuminate, base cuneate, membranous, glabrous or pubsecent; ligule 1 cm long, entire or bilobed, coriaceous, hairy on outer surface. Inflorescence racemose, erect, flower-bearing part 20-30 cm long, with fine spinous hair, without bract. Flowers pedicellate, pedicel 0.2-0.5 cm long; bracteole white, tip pink, folded around the bud, sparsely hairy on outer surface, 3.2 cm long, deciduous; calyx tubular, white with pink tip, 2.5 cm long, shortly 2-lobed and deeply split unilaterally, minutely pubescent on outer surface; corolla white, tube 1.6 cm long, lobes oblong, outer surface sparsely pubescent, margin ciliate, dorsal lobe 3.5 × 2 cm, laterals 3.5 × 1 cm; labellum yellowish, involute, 3.5 × 3.0 cm, with red stripes and spots on the center, apex emarginate; staminodes linear, 0.6 cm long, with red stripes; anther sometimes reductive; filament band-form, 1.3 cm long; stigma funnel-form, apex densely hairy; style slender, ca. 3.5 cm long; epigynous glands yellow, united on one side, massive, 0.3 cm long; ovary green, pubescent, 0.6 × 0.7 cm. Fruits capsular, orange-red, 1.2-1.7 × 1.3-2.1 cm, depressed-globose, smooth or faintly costate, with fine spinous hairs. Seeds 15-30, black-brown, angular; aril white, membranous.

TAIPEI : Santiaoling, Yang 1555(TNU); Kusshaku, Hayata s.n. May. 4, 1916 ( Type of A. kusshakuensis, TAI photo !); Tatungshan, Yang 974, 1105, 1487, 1611, 1788, 1853, 2030(TNU); Hsintein, Yang 1847(TNU).

Endemic, scattered at low altitudes of northern Taiwan.