Etlingera novoguineensis (K.Schum.) A.D.Poulsen, 2024

Poulsen, A. D., Tom, D., Tarere, D. & Magun, T., 2024, A re-evaluation of generic placement of four names of Phaeomeria species (Zingiberaceae) east of Wallace’s Line, Blumea 69 (2), pp. 122-129 : 123-124

2. Etlingera novoguineensis (K.Schum.) A.D.Poulsen , comb. nov.

Phaeomeria novoguineensis K.Schum. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 46 (1904) 265. — Nicolaia novoguineensis (K.Schum.) Valeton (1913) 936. — Lectotype (designated here): A. Zippelius 224b (lecto L [L 0193242]), Indonesia, [West Papua, Kaimana Regency, Triton Bay, S 3°53' E134°04', 1828, see note 2 below].

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to New Guinea.

Description — See Schumann (1904), repeated but abbreviated by Valeton (1913).

Distribution — Only known from the type locality at Triton Bay ( Fig. 1 ).

Conservation status — Data deficient ( IUCN 2019).Awaiting new collections from West Papua.

Notes — 1. Schumann (1904) stated that his new species is similar to Phaeomeria chrysocalyx K.Schum. and P. grandiligulata K.Schum. Both are currently placed in Etlingera and have long peduncles of the ‘ Phaeomeria’ type, it is natural to assume that Etlingera novoguineensis also has a long peduncle but the description only says that there is a peduncle but nothing about its length. Zippelius 224b at the Leiden herbarium (L 0193242) only includes half a spike, not a peduncle (BioPortal continuously updated) but perhaps Schumann observed a long peduncle on a duplicate at Berlin, which is now lost. The type material at Leiden includes a large leaf and a split spike that indeed looks like a typical Etlingera , but it has not yet been possible to match it with a recent and more complete collection including pickled flowers.

2. Valeton (1913) stated that his complete description was based on Schumann’s (1904) and even if he shortened it (e.g., omitting potentially diagnostic information on the anther crest), he provided the locality as ‘Triton-Bai’, whereas Schumann just stated that Zippelius’ collection was from the ‘Dutch part without specific locality’. The collector of the type, the German horticulturist, Alexander Zippelius (1797–1828), only joined one expedition to New Guinea ( Van Steenis-Kruseman 1950), namely the attempt in 1828 to secure the Dutch interests against the British in SW New Guinea by sending two ships, one of which was the corvette Triton , which gave name to a bay on the SW coast of Tanah Papua (c. S3°53' E134°04') where a fort was established and maintained for a few years. Zippelius collected at several localities around Triton Bay in June–August 1828 and even if his labels do not state the locality, Valeton must have had sufficient knowledge of the activities of Zippelius to be confident that E. novoguineensis was collected at Triton Bay. Van Steenis-Kruseman (1950) referred to the locality as Uru-Languru Bay, which was impossible to find on any map.

Figures

Fig. 1 Location of the type localities of Etlingera novoguineensis (Triton Bay), E. anthokophinos (Par), and E. peekelii (Bitagalip and Namatanai). — From Google Earth Prov. 16 July 2021.