but the latter has white lateral staminodes with a vein which is not central, whereas R. tumjensis has flowers all of the same colour and lateral staminodes with a central vein. Taxonomy Roscoea tumjensis was first described scientifically by Elizabeth Jill Cowley, a botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1982. The specific epithet relates to location of the type specimen, which was collected by Gardner near Tumje in Nepal in June 1953. The specimens collected by Gardner were originally labelled as R. purpurea var. auriculata (now R. auriculata) and R. chamaeleon (now R. cautleyoides), until Cowley created the new species. Evolution and phylogeny The family Zingiberaceae is mainly tropical in distribution. The unusual mountainous distribution of Roscoea may have evolved relatively recently and be a response to the uplift taking place in the region in the last 50 million years or so due to the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates. Species of Roscoea divide into two clear groups, a Himalayan clade and a "Chinese" clade (which includes some species from outside China). The two clades correspond to a geographical separation, their main distributions being divided by the Brahmaputra River as it flows south at the end of the Himalayan mountain chain. It has been suggested that the genus may have originated in this area and then spread westwards along the Himalayas and eastwards into the mountains of China and its southern neighbours. R. tumjensis falls into the Himalayan clade as would be expected from its distribution. Distribution and habitat Roscoea tumjensis occurs in the Himalayas, in central and eastern Nepal. The type specimen was collected at an altitude of 2,740 m. Cultivation R. tumjensis is in cultivation in the UK, frequently incorrectly labelled R. brandisii. References tumjensis Flora of Nepal Plants described in 1982