The ginger genus Burbidgea confirmed in the flora of the Philippine

From Firenze University Press Journal: Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography (Webbia)

Kean Roe F. Mazo, Department of Forestry, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Jose Rizal Memorial State University-Katipunan Campus

Rudolph Valentino A. Docot, Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Art and Sciences, Far Eastern University

Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Inverleith Row

The facultative epiphytic ginger genus Burbidgea harbours six species hither-to thought to be endemic in Borneo. Recent fieldwork in Zamboanga region, Mindanao, Philippines, resulted in the collection of a ginger, which we identified as Burbidgea nitida. The species, however, was already collected in Zamboanga region in 1919 but the evidence remained misidentified for a long time as Hedychium. Including the Burbidgea in the flora of the Philippines, increases the number of native ginger genera of the country to 17. Based on the recent collections, a complete description of B. nitidain the Philippines is provided here including illustrations and notes on ecology and a local name. We lectotypify Burbidgea nitida, the type of the genus, and clarify the over-lap of native ginger genera and species between Borneo and Philippines.

The Zamboanga region in the southwestern part of the Philippines has a unique biogeographical history (Dickerson et al. 1928). The region including the islands of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi has a diverse flora and fauna with a strong Bornean affinity (Valejo 2011). The understanding of the biodiver-sity of this region is poorly known because the ongoing insurgence has made exploration difficult in the past decades.The number of ginger genera in the Philippines increased in the past few years as a result of taxonomic revisions and recent discoveries performed by several Filipino botanists.

In 2022, Mazo et al. reported the occurrence of the genus Sulettaria A.D.Poulsen & Mathisen in the Philippines, resulting in a total of 18 ginger genera (Pelser et al. 2011 onwards) including Curcuma L. and Kaempferia L. that are not native. In 2021, an epiphytic ginger was collected in the municipality of Leon B. Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. The taxon was found to be a member of the genus Burbidgea Hook.f.

This genus was thought to be endemic to Borneo (Smith 1972) and therefore represents a new genus record for the Philip-pines. After reviewing protologues and other published papers as well as examining herbarium collections including types, we identified the species as Burbidgea nitida Hook.f. In the present paper, we formally report the new distribution record of Burbidgea to the Philip-pines and provide detailed information based on the recent material. This increases the number of ginger genera (including non-native) of the country to 19.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jopt-13518

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