Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2025 | 17(7): 27312–27315

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9517.17.7.27312-27315

#9517 | Received 26 November 2024 | Final received 16 June 2025 | Finally accepted 24 June 2025

 

 

 

Boesenbergia tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) - a new record for Maharashtra, India

 

Vijay A. Paithane 1, Anil S. Bhuktar 2 & Sanjay J. Sawant 3

 

1 Department of Botany, Anandibai Raorane Arts, Commerce and Science College, Vaibhavwadi, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, 416810, India.

2 Department of Botany, Vivekanand Arts, S.D. Commerce and Science college, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 431003, India.

3 Vanashree Foundation, Aynode, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra 416512, India.

1 drvapaithane@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 asbhuktar@gmail.com, 3 sanjayjsawant@gmail.com

 

 

Editor: Vijayasankar Raman, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA.       Date of publication: 26 July 2025 (online & print)

 

Citation: Paithane, V.A., A.S. Bhuktar & S.J. Sawant (2025). Boesenbergia tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) - a new record for Maharashtra, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(7): 27312–27315. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9517.17.7.27312-27315

  

Copyright: © Paithane et al. 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

 

 

The genus Boesenbergia Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) was named by Otto Kuntze in honour of his brother-in-law, the artist Walter Boesenberg. It comprises 98 species (Saensouk & Larsen 2002; Aishwarya et al. 2015; Debnath et al. 2024; POWO 2024) and is distributed in India, Indo-China, Malay Peninsula, Myanmar, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, and southern China (Sirirugsa 1987, 1992). In India, it is represented by 13 species (Das & Sikdar 1982; Singh & Srivastava 2020; Debnath et al. 2024; Saravanan & Kaliamoorthy 2024). Only B. rotunda (L.) Mansf. has been reported to occur in Maharashtra so far (Lakshminarasimhan et al. 1996).

As part of the ongoing taxonomic studies of the flowering plants in the Concan region of Maharashtra, the first author has conducted extensive field studies from 2015 to 2024. During a botanical survey in the Concan region of the northern Western Ghats in Maharashtra in September 2023 and 2024, the first author collected a single specimen of a Boesenbergia species from Tillari (Forebay) Dam near Dodamarg in Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra. After a thorough examination of the live and herbarium specimens, study of relevant literature (Mangaly & Swarupanandan 1981; Uthayakumari et al. 2006; Aishwarya & Sabu 2015), the specimen was identified as Boesenbergia tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze. A review of the literature (Cooke 1907; Lakshminarasimhan et al. 1996; Aishwarya & Sabu 2015) indicated that this species has not been previously reported from Maharashtra. Therefore, the present collection constitutes a new distributional record for the flora of Maharashtra.

 

Materials and Methods

The Concan region of Maharashtra has been previously explored botanically by several botanists, including Dr. Lush, Dr. Stock, Law, Dr. Ritchie, Dalzell, Woodrow, and Nairne, and the specimens were deposited at the Kew Herbarium. Most of these historical collections lack specific collection locations, as only general locality names such as ‘Konkan’ were used. Additionally, many areas in the region are botanically underexplored, and their floristic wealth remains less known (Kulkarni 1988). The current explorations aim to fill this gap. During a survey (2023–24) in the Tillari Dam area of Dodamarg Tehsil in Sindhudurg District, the first author (VAP) collected an interesting specimen of Boesenbergia (Image 1), which was subsequently identified using pertinent literature as B. tiliifolia. A herbarium specimen was prepared following international standards and deposited in the Herbarium of the Department of Botany at Anandibai Raorane Arts, Commerce and Science College in Vaibhavwadi, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra. The identity of the specimen was confirmed by Dr. M. Sabu, an expert in Zingiberaceae (Name spelled out pers. comm. 22.ix.2024). A live specimen of B. tiliifolia is maintained in the Botanical Garden at ARACS College, Maharashtra. Photographs of the dissected floral parts were taken using a Labomed CSM2 Stereo Microscope coupled with a Nikon Z50 camera.

 

Taxonomic treatment

Boesenbergia tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze in Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 685. 1891; Schum. in Engler, Pflanzenr. 4(46): 94. 1904 (as ‘tiliifolium’); Schltr. in Feddes Repert. 12: 317. 1913; Mangaly & Swarupanandan in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 23(3&4): 236. 1981 (as ‘tiliaefolia’); Das & Sikdar in Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 36: 45. 1982 (as ‘tiliaefolia’); Uthayakumari et al. in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 30(1): 190. 2006 (as ‘tiliaefolia’); Sabu in Zingiberaceae and Costaceae of South India 124. 2006 (as ‘tiliaefolia’). Aishwarya & Sabu in Rheedea 25(1): 63. 2015.

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous. Rhizome cylindrical, 5–10 × 0.3–0.4 cm, odourless. Leaves 3–6, 10–15 cm long; petiole 1−3.5 cm long; lamina ovate-elliptic, 9–12 × 4–10 cm, fleshy, glabrous, acute at apex, unequal at base. Inflorescence terminal, 4–5 cm long, 8–10-flowered. Bracts 8–10, distichous, oblong, 1.5–2 × 0.4–0.7 cm, minutely white hairy, acuminate at apex and wavy along the margins. Bracteoles oblong-lanceolate, 1.2–1.4 × 0.3–0.4 cm, bi-lipped. Flowers 2.5–3.5 cm long. Calyx tubular, 0.5–1.0 × 0.2–0.4 cm, truncate at base, translucent white, tridentate at apex. Corolla tube 1.4– 1.9 × 0.14 cm, white with a pink tinge; corolla lobes three, oblong, 1.0–1.3 × 0.3–0.5 cm, deeply pouched at apex, translucent white, glabrous, margins entire. Lateral staminodes two. Labellum obovate-cuneate, 1.4–1.5 × 0.8–0.9 cm, white with laterally radiating pink bands in the depression and pink towards the tip, margins wavy towards the upper half. Stamens 0.6–1.1 cm long, white; filaments 0.2–0.5 × 0.15–0.3 cm; anthers 0.4–0.6 × 0.2 cm; connectives not crested or spurred. Pollen grains spheroidal, 90–130 μm in diameter, with small spiny protuberances. Ovary oblong to elliptic, 0.2–0.5 cm long, glabrous, tricarpellary, trilocular with ovules on axile placentum; style filiform, 1.7–3.4 cm long, glabrous, white; stigma cup-shaped, non-ciliate, white. Capsule glabrous, 1–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 cm, slightly constricted, obtuse to blunt at apex. Seeds 2–4, measuring 4–5 × 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, with lacerate arils; aril strands 7–8, whitish, unequal, tubular, sharply or bluntly acute at apex. 

Flowering and Fruiting: September–December.

Distribution: India: Andaman Islands, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra (present study), Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu (Figure 1).

Specimen examined:  India, Maharashtra, Sindhudurg District, Tillari Dam, Dodamarg, 15.7800 N, 74.0880 E, ±73 m elevation, 21.ix.2024, coll. V.A. Paithane 3028 (Herbarium of ARACS College, Maharashtra).

Taxonomic note: Saravanan & Kaliamoorthy (2024) stated that Boesenbergia kalakadensis Saravanan & Kaliamoorthy shares morphological similarities with B. rotunda Mansf. and B. tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze.  B. tiliifolia (Baker) Kuntze can be distinguished by its smaller flowers, measuring 2.5–3.5 cm in length, compared to 8.2 cm in B. kalakadensis and 10.1 cm in B. rotunda.

 

 

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References

 

Aishwarya, K. &  M. Sabu (2015). Boesenbergia pulcherrima and B. tiliifolia (Zingiberaceae) in India: Notes on the identity, variability and typification. Rheedea 25(1): 59–68. https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2015.25.01.11

Aishwarya, K., M.R. Vinitha, G. Thomas & M. Sabu (2015). A new species of Boesenbergia and rediscovery of B. rotunda (Zingiberaceae) from India. Phytotaxa 197(3): 186–196. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.197.3.2

Cooke, T. (1907). Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, Vol. 3. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 650 pp.

Das, C.R. & J.K. Sikdar (1982). Review on the genus Boesenbergia (Scitamineae) from India. Bulletin of the Botanical Society of Bengal 36: 39–46.

Debnath, S., S. Patil & D. Vijayan (2024). Boesenbergia ashihoi (Zingiberaceae), a new species from northeast India. Nordic Journal of Botany 2024(5): e04319. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.04319

Kulkarni B.G. (1988). Flora of Sindhudurg. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 441–446 pp.

Kuntze, O. (1891). Revisio Genera Plantarum 2. Dulau & Co, London, 685 pp.

Lakshminarasimhan, P., B.D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N.P. Singh (1996). Flora of Maharashtra State Monocotyledones. Botanical survey of India, Calcutta, 791 pp.

Mangaly, J.K. & K. Swarupanandan (1981). Boesenbergia O. Kuntze (Zingiberaceae): new records from Kerala. Bulletin of Botanical Survey of India 23: 235–236.

POWO (2025). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accessed on 22 September 2024. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:37214-1.  

Saensouk, S. & K. Larsen (2002). Boesenbergia baimaii, a new species of Zingiberaceae from Thailand. Nordic Journal of Botany 21: 595–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2001.tb00818.x

Saravanan, T.S. & S. Kaliamoorthy (2024). Boesenbergia kalakadensis sp. nov. (Zingiberaceae) from southern Western Ghats, India. Nordic Journal of Botany 2024: e04445. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.04445

Singh, S.K. & S.C. Srivastava (2020). Zingiberaceae, pp. 116–134. In: Mao, A.A. & S.S. Dash (eds.). Flowering Plants of India, An Annotated Checklist (Monocotyledons). Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 545 pp.

Sirirugsa, P. (1987). Three new species and one new combination in Boesenbergia (Zingiberaceae) from Thailand. Nordic Journal of Botany 7: 421. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.1987.tb00963.x

Sirirugsa, P. (1992). A revision of the genus Boesenbergia Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) in Thailand. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 40: 67–90. https://www.thaiscience.info/journals/Article/NHB/10439259.pdf

Uthayakumari, F., V.S. Manickam & J. Dulcy (2006). Boesenbergia tiliaefolia (Baker) O. Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) - a new record for Tamil Nadu. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 30: 190–192.