Germainia thailandica (Bor) Chai-Anan

Teerawatananon, A., Sungkaew, S., Boontia, V. & Hodkinson, T. R., 2013, A taxonomic revision of Germainia (Andropogoneae: Poaceae) in Thailand, Blumea 57 (3), pp. 221-228 : 227

5. Germainia thailandica (Bor) Chai-Anan

Germainia thailandica (Bor) Chai-Anan (1972) 37, f. 2. ― Chumsriella thailandica Bor (1968) 467, f. on p. 468. — Type: Boonchuay 1436 (holo K, barcode K 290143;iso AAU,BKF, BM, L, sheet 084742, barcode L 44454), Thailand, Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon.

Annual, tufted. Culms slender, up to 10 cm tall, erect, branched; nodes glabrous. Leaf­sheaths 0.8–1.5 cm long, upper part pilose with tubercle-based hairs, margins scarious and glabrous. Ligule a ciliate membrane, 0.8 –1 mm long. Leaf­blades lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1–2.5 by 0.2 – 0.3 cm, densely patently pilose with tubercle-based hairs on both surfaces, margins scabrous. Racemes 2, 0.8 –1.5 cm long, elongate, more or less divergent, composed of 3 – 4 pairs of spikelets on each, basal homogamous solitary or absent; peduncle slender, 1–2 cm long, enclosed in the uppermost sheath with well-developed blade. Sessile spikelets oblong, 4 –5 by 1– 2 mm; lower glumes membranous to chartaceous, oblong, 3.5– 4.5 by 1–2 mm, glabrous, apex 3– 4-dentate, the mid-lobe shorter than the laterals, upper margin ciliate, 7–9-nerved, nerves anastomosing below apex; upper glumes lanceolate, 4 – 5 by 1–1.2 mm, glabrous, truncate to emarginate, upper margin ciliate, 1-nerved; lower florets absent, if present neuter; lower lemmas lanceolate, 2.7– 3.7 mm long, obtuse, upper margin ciliate, nerves obscure; lower paleas absent; upper lemmas filiform, 4–4.5 mm long; upper paleas lanceolate, 4 – 4.2 mm long, glabrous, obtuse, upper margin ciliate; stamens not seen. Pedicelled spikelets lanceolate, 3.5 –4 by 0.5 –1.2 mm, caducous; pedicels 1–1.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent; spikelet callus obtuse, attached transversely, hairy, hairs 0.3 – 0.5 mm long; lower glumes lanceolate, 3.5– 4.3 by 0.8 –1.2 mm, densely hirsute, 2 –3-dentate, upper margin ciliate, 3-nerved, anastomosing; upper glumes lanceolate, 2.8 –3.2 by 0.8–1 mm, densely hirsute, obtuse with 2– 3-dentate, 3-nerved; lower florets suppressed; upper lemmas linear, 1.5 – 2 mm long, awns 2.5– 4.5 cm long, columns 1–1.2 cm long; upper paleas oblong, 1–1.7 mm long, acute, glabrous. Caryopsis oblong, 1.3 –1.5 mm long.

Distribution — Endemic to Thailand, only known from Doi Inthanon (N: Chiang Mai).

Habitat & Ecology — Evergreen forests.

Typification notes — Bor (1968) stated that the specimen of K. Boongoheng 1436 housed in K was the holotype of Chumsriella thailandica Bor and regarded the duplicates in BKF, BM and AAU as isotypes. However, the label on the holotype sheet indicated that ‘ Booncheuy 1436 ’ was the collector. The isotype in BM was labelled as ‘ Boocheng 1436 ’, while the isotype in BKF was labelled using the signature of a collector 1436 written in Thai but can be spelled either ‘ Booncheuy ’ or ‘ Boonchuay ’. As this species was transferred to Germainia by Chai-Anan (1972), a Thai grass-taxonomist, she stated the collector name of the holotype was ‘ Boonchuay ’. The collector’s name can be spelled in English in different ways. Thus, the correct name should be ‘ Boonchuay ’ as Chai-Anan (1972) indicated.

Vernacular name — Ya Hang Ma, from Boonchuay 1436 (BKF).

Specimen examined. Boonchuay 1436.