1098

Hedychium coccineum (Buch.-Ham.) ex Smith

Synonym	:	Gandasulium angustifolium (Roxb.) Kuntze
Family	:	Zingiberaceae
Local name	:	English- Red Butterfly Ginger
Flowering and fruiting period	:	July-October
Distribution	:	India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	Ornamental
Key botanical characters: Rhizomes pale brown inside. Leafy shoot cylindric, clothed by purple sheaths, 1.5-2 m tall. Leaves sessile, lamina oblong-lanceolate, deep green above and purple beneath, glabrous; ligule 2 cm, membranous, base deep purple, densely hairy, apex pink, puberulous. Inflorescence a terminal spike, 20-25 cm long. Bracts lax, 30-56 in number, coriaceous, pubescent externally, green. Flowers 5-6 in each bract, 4-5 cm long, dull orange-red.