Thanks Tim for all your help on my earlier postings. I hope you don't mind if I lean on you for more info.

I was delighted to find a few more globbas at a local nursery here in Singapore. Two of them were labelled Globba Patens, although they seem top be very different. One has purplish under leaves, and an inflorescence that appears from the stem below the leaf.

A closeup of an emerging bud:

The other has no purplish underside and the flower is at the end of a long spike. Unfortunately, the flower had gone by the time I took the photo, but from memory it seemd to be similar to the other "Patens"

Could you help clear up the issue for me?

Many thanks in advance
Mick

I think your first two pictures are of G. unifolia. Its an uncommon species native to Malaysia. I've never collected it but hope to some day.

The second one is probably G. patens. Was the inflorescence orange? Is the plant hairy (check the stem below the inflorescence)? If so then that is what it is. The other possibility is G. variabilis. I doubt that is it but it is possible. If the inflorescence was pink then it might be that.

-Kyle

Thanks for I.D.'ing the Unifolia. Now things are looking less confusing. The 2nd one is starting to flower now, the bud is pink, so it might be the G. Variabilis. I'll take some more pictures once the flower has fully opened.

Thanks again,
Mick