Species Diversity and Rhizome Microscopic Structures of Zingiberaceae in Banthad Range, Phatthalung, Trang, Satun and Songkhla Provinces

Abstract

The study of species diversity and microscopic structures of Zingiberaceae in Banthad range were conducted in Phatthalung, Trang, Satun and Songkhla provinces from June 2015 to December 2016. The aims of this research were to study species diversity, construct dichotomous key and observe rhizome microscopic structures. The result showed that 37 species have been found. They belong to 3 tribes, 11 genera. The highest representative tribes were Alpinieae (5 genera, 19 species), followed by Zingibereae (5 genera, 15 species) and Globbeae (1 genera, 3 species), respectively. The result from rhizome microscopic structures observation revealed that informative characters are trichomes, epidermal tissue, cork, parenchyma cell, vascular bundles, including oleoresins, oil droplets, starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals. Anyway, rhizome microscopic characters are not sufficient for species identification. But they provide supportive information, especially for the case of rhizome in traditional Thai prescriptions.