Hedychium coccineum Buch.-Ham., Zingiberaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: red ginger-lily, scarlet ginger-lily

French: gingembre-douleur, longose à fleurs rouges

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Up to 3 m tall. Leaves sessile, about 30-50 cm long, lanceolate, acuminate, pubescent on midrib below and at tips, otherwise glabrous; ligule about 1 cm long, rounded, glabrous. Inflorescence up to at least 25 cm long x 15 cm wide, cylindric, moderately dense-flowered. Bracts c. 2.5 cm long, oblong, each subtending 2-4 red or salmon-red flowers. Bracteoles tubular, membranous. Calyx about as long as the bracts, 3-lobed. Corolla-tube same length as bracts and calyx; petals about 2.5 cm long, narrowly linear, reflexed. Lateral staminodes 2.5 cm long, cuneate-oblong, subacute, spreading. Labellum long-unguiculate, limb about 2.5 cm broad, orbicular, deeply bifid. Stamen to 5 cm long; anther-thecae linear. Capsule elliptic, red-orange within" (Dassanayake, 1983; pp. 505-506).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  (no propagation information known by PIER)

Native range:  Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Comments:  Reported as an invasive species in Jamaica.

Additional information:  Additional online information about Hedychium coccineum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Hedychium coccineum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Dassanayake, M. D., gen. ed. 1983. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol IV. Amerind Pub. Co., New Delhi. 532 pp.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.