Found rare ginger flowers in Khanh Hoa

The scientists have just added the distribution area of ​​Vietnam's endemic ginger species in Hon Ba Nature Reserve, Khanh Hoa.

The ginger species Geostachys annamensis , the Vietnamese name for the Central Caucasus was described in 1921, with the specimen collected in Da Lat, Lam Dong by Henry Nicholas Ridley and Cecil Boden Kloss (1877-1949) during the survey at Lang Plateau Biang three years earlier.

Geostachys annamensis - Central saunia.(Photo: Truong Ba Vuong)

The species was later identified by Ridley, belonging to the botanical room of the British Museum. This species was last recorded in 1980. So far there are 10 specimen specimens kept in Hanoi, the British Museum and Paris. All these collections are sourced from Lam Dong province.

In 2010, the Institute of Tropical Biology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Botanical Garden of Prague and the Czech Republic discovered the only fruiting tree of Geostachys in the Hon Ba Reserve, but could not confirm the name. main species due to lack of flowers.

Later, their flowers were discovered during the most recent trip of scientists from the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB) in late April this year.

Truong Ba Vuong, of ITB, sent a sample to Ms. Jana Skornickova, working at the Singapore Botanical Garden to identify. As a result, this is Geostachys annamensis species distributed at altitudes higher than 1,000m in cold weather with fog.

"It shows that Geostachys has a distribution area extending to Khanh Hoa province. It is predicted that in the future, this ginger species can also be found in Ninh Thuan province. Institute of Tropical Biology, " said Truong Ba Vuong.