Gomphrena globosa

Andel, T. R. van, Mazumdar, J., Barth, E. N. T. & Veldkamp, J. F., 2018, Possible Rumphius specimens detected in Paul Hermann’s Ceylon herbarium (1672 - 1679) in Leiden, The Netherlands, Blumea 63 (1), pp. 11-19 : 13

Gomphrena globosa

Folio 90 bears a flowering specimen that we identify as the common garden ornamental Gomphrena globosa L. ( Amaranthaceae ). Hermann’s annotation mentions: ‘Amarantho adfinis Breyni. Cent. 1. Flos globularius Rumph.’( Fig. 3 ). Hermann did not report any local name of this plant either with the specimens or in his notes ( Sherard 1717). Four specimens of G. globosa are preserved in BM, and one in the Paris collection ( Lourteig 1966: 32), but none of them bears a reference to Rumphius. The species is not represented in the Erfurt collections ( Rauschert 1970). Rumphius (1747: 289) described it as ‘flos globosus’ and ‘flos globularius’, with the local Malay-Dutch name ‘Bonga knop’, a garden ornamental introduced from Java, of which the flowers are strung into garlands during weddings and other festivities and the leaves are consumed as a vegetable. Rumphius also mentioned Breyne’s description of the species, as did Hermann. The small illustration of the plant in the published version of Herbarium Amboinense (1747: 289; Fig. 4 ) is a fragment of the much larger illustration that is stuck between p. 320 and p. 321 in the handwritten manuscript (BPL 314, 1692) in the Leiden University Library ( Fig. 5 ).

Figures

Fig. 3 Folio 90, Vol. II of the Hermann herbarium in Leiden. Gomphrena globosa. — Photograph: Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

Fig. 4 Illustration of Gomphrena globosa in the printed version of the Herbarium Amboinense (Rumphius 1747: 289).

Fig. 5 Original drawing of Gomphrena globosa inserted between p.320 and p. 321 in Rumphius’ manuscript (BPL 314, 1692) in the Leiden University Library. — Photograph: Tinde van Andel.