A Reconsideration of Brachychilum Petersen (Hedychieae: Zingiberaceae)

Abstract

The morphological difference between the monospecific genus Brachychilum and Hedychium is bridged by the recently described Hedychium muluense R. M. Smith. Cytological studies reported here show that at least one stock of B. horsfieldii (Wall.) O. Petersen shares the same basic chromosome number and morphology with Hedychium. The genus Brachychilum should therefore be placed in synonymy with Hedychium, and B. horsfieldii should revert to Hedychium horsfieldii [R. Brown ex] Wall.