1057

                 Alpinia purpurata(Viell) K.Schum.)

Synonym	:	Guillainia purpurata  Vieill.
Family	`	Zingiberaceae
Local name	:	Eng.: Red ginger lily, Jungle queen, Pink cone ginger, Orchid ginger. Chinese:  Hong guo shan jiang.
Flowering and fruiting period	:	April-September
Distribution	:	The Molukkens, the Salamons, Carolines, New Caledonien, New Hebrids, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archepelago and Java.
Endemic/Exotic		Exotic
Uses	:	Much used in cut flower industry. Cultivated for their attractive inflorescences or leaves or both and less commonly, for essential oils and rhizomes used as a condiment.
Key botanical characters: Rhizome 0.9-1.4 cm thick, white internally, pink externally, non-aromatic. Leafy shoots 107-120 cm high, slanting. Leaves 13-14 in number, 6.5-9.5 cm apart, dark green dorsally, pale green ventrally; ligule 0.6-1 x 0.8-1 cm, single, ovate, pale green, brown towards margin; lamina 30-34 x 8.5-9.7 cm, elliptic, dark green above, pale green below, glabrous, slightly aromatic. Inflorescence 14.2-15 cm long, erect, racemose, terminal; peduncle 2-2.5 cm long, pale green. Bract single, 3-3.1 x 1.1-1.3 cm, oblanceolate, dark red, coriaceous, glabrous on either sides. Bulbils 0.7-0.8 x 0.4-0.5 cm, ovate, brown, glabrous, in the axil of bracts. Flower 3-3.5 cm long, white, straight, one or two opens at a time. Labellum 0.8-0.9 x 0.7-0.8 cm, obovate, white, 3-lobed at tip, lobes obtuse, margin membraneous, thick at centre.