Phytotaxa 172 (2): 129–132 www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/ Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press Correspondence PHYTOTAXA ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition) ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition) Accepted by Timothy Evans: 22 Mar. 2014; published: 13 Jun. 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.172.2.9 129 On the occurrence of a new variety of Amomum villosum (Family Zingiberaceae) in Central Hills of Sri Lanka PIYAL KARUNARATHNE 123* , DEEPTHI YAKANDAWALA 2 & PREMINDA SAMARAWEERA 3 1. Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. 2. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. 3. Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. * piyalkarumail@yahoo.com, T.P: +94773645453, Fax.:+94-81-238 8018 Abstract During a study to re-assess the genus Amomum Roxb. in Sri Lanka, we encountered a new variety of Amomum from Seven Virgin Hills of Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, Sri Lanka. This new specimen shows similar morphological characters to Amomum villosum var. villosum and var. xanthioides but it exhibits significant differences in some important characters such as lamina shape, ligule hairs, bract and bracteole hairs, non-tubular bracteoles and labellum color patterns which warrant the recognition of a new variety under A. villosum. All the important features of this new taxon (Amomum villosum var. zeylanicus) including morphology, habitat, geographical separation, ecology, and IUCN status assessment are described and illustrated for the first time. Key words: Monocots, New taxon, Sri Lanka, Taxonomy Background Members of the genus Amomum Roxb. are generally evergreen herbs that inhabit the understory of most tropical forests, especially in light gaps and along forest margins (Sakai & Nagamasu 1998). It is the second largest genus of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) with over 150 species occurring from the Himalayas through Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Queensland, Northern Australia and extending into the central Pacific (Kress 1990, Smith 1985, Wu & Larsen 2000). As are most genera of Zingiberaceae, Amomum is also abundantly distributed in South and Southeast Asia (Kress 1990). Four species of Amomum were first recognized by Linnaeus (1753: 560) although they have now been transferred into several other genera. The first description of the genus was given by Roxburgh in 1820 (Burtt & Smith 1972). Since then, approximately 150-180 species have been described (Kaewsri et al. 2007) including more than 24 species from the Indian subcontinent alone (Sabu 2006, Sabu et al. 2009). According to Trimen (1885), the first plant collection of Amomum from Sri Lanka, vaguely dates back to late 1700. However the first thorough collection of the genus from the country was done by Thwaites in 1860’s where he enumerated six species of Amomum from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and it was the biggest collection of Zingiberaceae at that time (Trimen 1885). Until the last revision on the family by Burtt & Smith (1983) several other taxonomists such as G. Bentham (Burtt & Smith 1983), Trimen (1885), Baker (1894), Schuman (1904), and Alston (1931) have worked on the genus in Sri Lanka describing more species. However, the most recent comprehensive two studies on Zingiberaceae by Burtt and Smith in 1972 and 1983 based on the descriptions complied by studying their collections and few herbarium collections of Thwaites, resulted in recognizing only 10 species under the genus Amomum in the country. Interestingly, there have been no studies on this important genus for a long time and only a few new specimens have been collected since Thwaites’ time. During a recent study to re-assess the genus Amomum with new collection of plant specimens from Sri Lanka, we encountered a specimen which did not match any species descriptions of Zingiberaceae. This specimen was collected from the Seven Virgin Hills of Peak Wilderness Reserve in Sri Lanka. After comparing it with all possible species of Amomum occurring in the region and the world, it was confirmed to be a new taxon. Although the specimen shows close morphological similarities to a few Amomum species such as Amomum jainii Tripathi and Prakash (1999: 609),