Species

Hedychium flavescens

Etymology

flavescens: pale yellow

Common Name(s)

yellow ginger

Authority

Hedychium flavescens Roscoe

Family

Zingiberaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Monocotyledonous Herbs

Habitat

Terrestrial. Coastal and lowland habitats. Scrub, forest margins and clearings, roadsides and wastelands.

Features

Non-woody perennial to 2.5 m tall, ginger-scented. Rhizomes massive, taro-like, close to ground surface, long, shallow rooted, much-branched, growing over each other forming deep beds. Rhizome segments 4 x 10 cm, each producing an aerial stem usually annually. Stems to 2.5 m, erect, soft, unbranched, thickening to short pinkish collar at base. Leaves alternate, 50 x 10 cm, shiny, pointing upwards. Flowerhead 15 x 10 cm with flowers overlapping in cone-like clusters, cream-coloured, May-Jun. No fruit produced.

Similar Taxa

Hedychium gardnerianum (wild ginger) has an open inflorescence, but is difficult to distinguish on vegetative parts alone. H. gardnerianum has shortly petiolate leaves with a small ligule to 1.5 cm. H. flavescens has sessile leaves and a ligule 3.5-5cm long. There are other Hedychium species cultivated, and sparingly naturalised. In particular H. coronarium (white ginger) is very similar but has white rather than cream flowers. Other similar species are Canna sp. and culinary Ginger (Zingiber sp.)

Flowering

March, April, May, June, July

Flower Colours

Cream,Yellow

Year Naturalised

1898

Origin

Himalayas

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial. The hermaphrodite flowers are sterile (Landcare Research 4/1993; Timmins & MacKenzie 1995).

Reproduction
Reproduces vegetatively from short, stout rhizomes.

Seed
Fruit not seen in New Zealand.

Dispersal
Rhizomes spread slowly outwards. New infestations caused by flooding, soil movement, dumped vegetation, contaminated machinery.

Tolerances
Tolerant of poor drainage and semi-shade and slightly tolerant of drought. Physical damage to rhizome causes multiplication. Requires medium to high soil fertility.

This page last updated on 24 Mar 2010