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I got this from a reliable source, but it isn't the right thing. Jill Cowley says: "Plants purporting to be R. kunmingensis are already on sale in nurseries and it would be interesting to compare them with R.praecox. Like the latter, it comes from low altitudes around Kunming and is described as being very much like R.praecox but with much smaller flowers, and with a more deeply lobed labellum, and small tubular bracts, although this last character is not obvious from the illustration accompanying the description. The illustration compares the dorsal petals, labellums, bracts and staminodes of the two species; the latter differ markedly in shape. The plate shows that R. kunmingensis flowers precociously, like R. praecox, and also shares the striking white linear marks at the base of the labellum. Roscoea kunmingensis can be found in pine forests, flowering in May to June at altitudes between 2100 and 2200m." In the formal of the species she adds: " "Leaves not developed at flowering time..." Gary Dunlop added: "The status of this species is uncertain, as are the two very similar varieties, given the significant and wide variation that is normal within species of Roscoea ... The description in the Flora of China is inadequate, giving no indication if the plant is upright or prostrate or that the flowers occur on a stem ... As Jill Cowley noted 'Judgement on the validity of this new species has te be reserved until specimens can be studied; having seen how variable plants within a population can be, one has to be somewhat cautious'. It seems likely that this species will eventually be designated as a pedunculate form of R. praecox." The uncertainty remains. My plant has small flowers and a deeply lobed labellum. Unfortunately it flowers late in the season when the leaves are fully developed and I think it is R. tibetica |
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