New distributional record of Zingiber roseum (Roxb.) Roscoe from Satpuda hill ranges of Jalgaon district, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Genus Zingiber Mill. (Zingiberaceae) is represented by 141 species distributed mainly in tropical forests of Asia. From Maharashtra 7 species have been reported (Sharma et al. 1996, Almeida 2009, Chandore et al. 2012). These plants are characterized by inflorescence arising directly from the rhizome with peduncle very short or absent. Earlier floristic studies in Satpuda hills of Khandesh region have not recorded any wild ginger species belonging to the genus Zingiber (Patil 2003, Kshirsagar 2008, Khan 2019). During our botanical survey of Satpuda hills, we came across a colony of herbaceous plants with distichous leaves with basal sheaths overlapping to form pseudostem, in Aamba Pani forest of Satpuda hills of Jalgaon district, on hill slopes dominated by Bamboo Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees and Karvi Strobilanthes callosa Nees vegetation, sharing habitat with Cheilocostus speciosus (J. Koenig) C. Specht, and Habenaria plantaginea Lindl. Detailed morphological examination of the specimen observed with the help of literature confirmed it as Zingiber roseum (Roxb.) Roscoe. Close examination with the help of pertinent literature revealed that this species is not recorded earlier from Satpuda hill ranges of Jalgaon district, and Khandesh region of Maharashtra. It is the new distributional record of this species from Satpuda ranges, Maharashtra state. The occurrence of this rare wild ginger species underlines its range extension from western ghats to Satpuda hills, signifying floral wealth of Satpuda hill ranges.