Ongoing project: Taxonomic revision of Amomum Roxb. (Zingiberaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia

The Zingiberaceae family is one of the largest angiosperm's family found in Asia. Its phylogeny and taxonomy is still not completely known especially for some genera in different places of the continent. This study will focus on the former and polyphyletic AmomumRoxb. genera in Peninsular Malaysia. Its classification has been reviewed recently by de Boer et al. (2018) and all the former Amomum Roxb. species have been reclassified in five genera using morphological characters and DNA when available. However, this new classification remains incomplete and placement of various species needs to be verified. Moreover, most of these species were not reviewed and sampled properly since their first description in the late 19th century or early 20th century. Identities and synonymies of many species remain unclear, while others represent a complex of cryptic species. Critical revision is therefore needed. Re-collection of all the species and names previously published from all type localities will be done in order to have fresh materials for morphological examinations as well as fresh DNA for the phylogeny study. The results will be used to compare and supplement the latest revision of the classification proposed by de Boer et al. (2018). In addition to that, a conservation assessment will be conducted in order to give a conservation status to each of the twenty-two species. Some species were previously described as endemic to a very small area and reported used by local populations as a resource for medicine and/or food. The results could suggest the conservation of some particular areas to protect its endemic flora that is part of the ethnobotanical knowledge of the local populations.

Reference:

de Boer, H., Newman, M., Poulsen, A. D., Droop, A. J., Fér, T., Hiên, L. T. T., ... & Leong-Š kornič ková, J. (2018). Convergent morphology in Alpinieae (Zingiberaceae): Recircumscribing Amomum as a monophyletic genus. Taxon, 67(1), 6-36.

Amomum subulatum