Gingersrus Database Taxon ID 4012Dimerocostus appendiculatusOLD NAME: Dimerocostus strobilaceus subsp. appendiculatus NEW NAME: Dimerocostus appendiculatus NAME CHANGE NOTES: Split out as a separate species from D. strobilaceus. FULL SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dimerocostus appendiculatus (Maas) Maas & H.Maas, proposed comb. nov. STATUS : stat. nov. CONTINENT: Neotropical FIELD OBSERVATIONS:(If field observations are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) FIELD OBSERVATIONS PHOTOS:(If photos are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) GOOGLE PHOTO ALBUM SYNONYMS: - Dimerocostus strobilaceus subsp. appendiculatus Maas (1972) BOTANICAL NOTES: Proposed for publication in 2022, this former subspecies of D. strobilaceus will become a separate species. Dimerocostus appendiculatus can easily be confused with Dimerocostus argenteus . Both have yellow flowers and appendixed bracts but the appendages to D. argenteus are not persistent, decaying as the inflorescence matures. The persistent leafy appendages to the bracts is the primary character that distinguishes D. appendiculatus. The type specimen for this subspecies was collected at Hacienda Indiana near the mouth of the Rio Napo in Dept Loreto, Peru. In 2008 I photographed a Dimerocostus within 50 or so km from that location at the San Rafael Indigenous village on the Amazon River. The photos I took are shown on this page and are believed to be this subspecies, now to be changed to a separate species. Unfortunately, I did not appreciate that I was seeing something special and did not take many detailed photos, and did not check the undersides of the leaves. The seeds that were collected germinated but did not survive here. A thumbnail page showing photos of this plant can be found at http://www.gingersrus.com/images/P4012 Based on field studies in Peru and Bolivia, I determined that Dimerocostus has two very different forms of flower structure. There is the type of flower found in D. strobilacious that has a broad, flat labellum, and the other type of flower found in D. argenteus that has a smaller labellum with the upper corolla lobe forming a distinctive "hood" over the labellum. Dr. Maas has adopted this distinction in his key to Dimerocostus species. The flowers in these photos seem to be intermediate between the two types - not fully "hooded", but not quite as broad and flat as the typical D. strobilaceus flower. I have not seen enough examples of D. appendiculatus to know for sure whether the flower is always in the form seen in these photos. Dimerocostus appendiculatus (f/k/a D. strobilaceus subsp. appendiculatus) is found in Amazonian parts of Peru and Colombia with most of the collections found in the region of the Amazon River between iquitos and Leticia. It flowers year round. DNA has been extracted from a sample of this species that was collected near Iquitos. In a 2020 phylogeny of Dimerocostus it was found to be in a separate clade, closest to the white flowering form of Dimerocostus strobilaceus.
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