Meistera dallachyi, commonly known as green ginger, is a plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia. It is a rhizomatous herb, that is, the stem grows horizontally underground and only the leaves appear above ground. The leaf sheaths (the "stems") may be up to 4 m (13 ft) long with a number of long narrow leaves on either side, each up to about 50 cm (20 in) long by 9 cm (3.5 in) wide.[4][5]
| Green ginger | |
|---|---|
| |
| Flower | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Zingiberaceae |
| Genus: | Meistera |
| Species: | M. dallachyi
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| Binomial name | |
| Meistera dallachyi | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
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The flowers are produced at ground level on a spearate stalk to the leaves. The flowers have three white or cream petals and a labellum up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long. The fruit is a yellow or green, three-valved, spiky capsule about 45 mm (1.8 in) long by 30 mm (1.2 in) wide, containing a number of brown or black seeds.[4][5]
Taxonomy
editThis species was first described in 1873 as Amomum dallachyi by Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller,[6] but by 2002 it was known that the genus Amomum was paraphyletic.[7]: 7 A review of the genus published in 2018 resulted in this species being transferred to the genus Meistera.[7]
Distribution and habitat
editIt grows in rainforest, particularly where there are breaks in the canopy such as along roads and creeks. It occurs from Kutini-Payamu National Park in the northern part of Cape York, south to about Mission Beach. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about 400 m (1,300 ft).[4][5]
Conservation
editThis species is listed as least concern under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation Act.[1] As of December 2024[update], it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
References
edit- ^ a b "Species profile—Meistera dallachyi". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Meistera dallachyi (F.Muell.) Škorničk. & M.F.Newman". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Meistera dallachyi (F.Muell.) Škorničk. & M.F.Newman". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ a b c F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Meistera dallachyi". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ a b c Cooper, Wendy; Cooper, William T. (June 2004). Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia: Nokomis Editions. p. 563 (as Amomum dallachyi). ISBN 978-0-9581742-1-3.
- ^ Mueller, Ferdinand von (1873). Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ (in Latin). Vol. 8. Melbourne: Joannis Ferres. p. 25. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ a b de Boer, H.; Newman, M.; Poulsen, A.D.; Droop, A.J.; Fér, T.; Hiên, L.T.T.; Hlavatá, K.; Lamxay, V.; Richardson, J.E.; Steffen, K.; Leong-Škorničková, J. (2018). "Convergent morphology in Alpinieae (Zingiberaceae): Recircumscribing Amomum as a monophyletic genus". Taxon. 67 (1): 6–36. doi:10.12705/671.2.
External links
edit- View a map of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
- View observations of this species on iNaturalist
- View images of this species on Flickriver.com