View source for Alpinia

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Zingiberaceae
|genus=Alpinia
|features=flowers
|flowers=red
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Red Ginger.jpg
|image_width=180
|image_caption=Red Ginger (''Alpinia purpurata'')
}}
''' ''Alpinia'' ''' is a rather large [[genus]] of [[plant]]s, with more than 230 species from the Ginger family ([[Zingiberaceae]]). 

[[DNA]] sequence-based methods (See : References) have shown that this genus is [[polyphyletic]]. It is represented by six [[clade]]s distributed across the tribe [[Alpinieae]], that do not correspond to Smith's (1990) classification of the genus (See : References). Further research is needed to specify the taxa in this genus.

They occur in tropical and subtropical climates of [[Asia]] and the [[Pacific]], and are in great demand as ornamentals because of their flashy [[flower]]s.

These plants grow from large [[rhizome]]s. The stem consists of closely folded blades, such as in [[banana]] trees. The flowers grow on long [[raceme]]s.

{{Inc|
Alpinia (Prosper Alpinus, an Italian botanist). Zingiberaceae. Stove herbs, cultivated both for leaves and the racemes or panicles of flowers.

Many-std. leafy plants, with ginger-like rhizomes: fls. in spikes or panicles terminating the leafy sts., often showy; calyx wide-tubular or nearly bell-form, the tube short and the 3 points or parts erect; corolla of 3 parte; stamens reduced to 1 pollen-bearing organ, and 1 or more staminodia, one of the staminodia being showy and longer than corolla and notched or toothed: fr. a 3- celled caps.—About 150 species in Polynesia, Japan, and E. India. Some of the cult. forms have undoubtedly been referred to Alpinia without knowledge of the botanical characters, and their botanical position is therefore doubtful. Monogr. in Engler, Pflanzenreich, hft. 20 (1904).

Alpinia contains many handsome species, but only a few are common in cultivation. They are tropical plants and require a moist air and a temperature of 55° to 60° F. A mixture of two parts loam, one part leaf-mold, and one part dried cow-manure forms an excellent compost. While growing, they need an abundance of water, and the large-growing kinds require large pots or tubs. After flowering, allow them to rest in heat, but do not dry them off. The plants are propagated by division in the spring. A. nutans is grown for its handsome flowers and attains a height of 12 or 13 feet. A. vittata is popular on account of its variegated foliage. A. mutica has very showy flowers, but is apparently little known in the trade.

Many kinds of these interesting ornamental plants are likely to find their way into choice collections. Some of them are as follows: A. gigantea. Blume, reported in S. Calif., very tall, even to more than 20 ft., with very large nodding panicle.—A. japónica, once catalogued in U. S., but not known whether it was the ?. japónica of Thunberg.—A. longepetioldta. coming from W. Trop. Afr., of robust habit, 6 ft.: lvs. elliptic, the uppermost linear, wing-petioled: fls. white or rose in terminal panicle, purple-spotted.—A. magnífica, Roscoe -Phaeomeria magnifica.—A. Nieuwenhùizii. Valet. (A. borneensis, Valet.), distinct species, 4-6 ft.: lvs. 2 ft. or less long: fls. purple-lipped, in panicle« 12 in. long: fr. large. Borneo.—A. officinarum, Hance. Supplying the &quot;radix Galangae minoris&quot; of pharmacists, once used as an aromatic stimulant by Arabs and Greeks: rhizome thick, creeping, the et. tuberous at base: lvs. narrowly lanceolate, long-acuminate: fls. white in simple spike, the lip red- nerved. China. B.M. 6995.—A. pumila, Hook. f. Lvs. from root- stock, 6 in. or less, on petioles 2-4 in.: fls. in short spike, 1 in. long, pink, the lip recurved, on a very short scape. China. B.M. 6832. -1. Schumanniàna, Valet. (A. fimbriata, Gagn.). 3-5 ft.: lvs. lanceolate, 18 in. long, 1½ in. broad: fls. purple in spikes, handsome. Formosa.—A. zingiberina. Hook. f. 4-5 it.: lvs. oblanceolate, oblong, cuspidate, 12 in. or less long, 3 in. broad: fls. greenish, the lip white veined crimson, in panicles. Siam. B.M. 6944.
}} 

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