Cautleya gracilis robusta (Cautleya gracilis robusta)
Description
Cautleya gracilis is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Zingiberaceae (the gingers). It is found in the Himalayas through to south China and Vietnam.It is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant, hardy to a few degrees of frost.What appear to be stems in Cautleya species are actually "pseudostems" formed by the tightly wrapped bases or sheaths of the leaves. In C. gracilis, the pseudostems are 25�80 cm (10�31 in) tall, with some purely sheathing leaves at the base. Other leaves also have blades, free from the pseudostem, 6�20 cm (2.4�7.9 in) long by 1.5�6 cm (0.6�2.4 in) wide. The inflorescence is a spike, with typically 2�10 loosely spaced flowers in C. gracilis var. gracilis and 15�20 more tightly spaced flowers making a compact "head" in C. gracilis var. robusta.Each yellow or orange flower has a complex structure. A green bract surrounds the sepals, which are largely fused, forming a tubular calyx, split along one side, which is longer than the bract, being 1.5�2 cm (0.59�0.79 in) long. Inside the calyx, the three petals are fused at the base to form a tube which is longer than the calyx, so that it protrudes. At the end of the tube the petals form three lobes, 1.2�2 cm (0.5�0.8 in) long. Inside the petals are three petal-like structures (staminodes). The two side staminodes are upright. The lip or labellum is bent downwards and is divided into two at the tip. The single stamen has a two-pronged "spur" at base of the anther, formed by connective tissue.The seed capsule is red when ripe, splitting to reveal the black seeds. A small white aril is present in C. gracilis var. robusta but is absent in C. gracilis var. gracilis.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Zingiberales
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Family: Zingiberaceae
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Genus: Cautleya
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