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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.
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== References ==
== References ==
* Smith, R.M. (1990) "''Alpinia'' (Zingiberaceae): a proposed new infrageneric classification". ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' '''47(1): 37''', fig. 6B.
* Smith, R.M. (1990) "''Alpinia'' (Zingiberaceae): a proposed new infrageneric classification". ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' '''47(1): 37''', fig. 6B.
* W. John Kress, Ai-Zhong Liu, Mark Newman and Qing-Jun Li - ''The molecular phylogeny of Alpinia (Zingiberaceae): a complex and polyphyletic genus of gingers''; American Journal of Botany; 2005; 92:167-178
* W. John Kress, Ai-Zhong Liu, Mark Newman and Qing-Jun Li - ''The molecular phylogeny of Alpinia (Zingiberaceae): a complex and polyphyletic genus of gingers''; American Journal of Botany; 2005; 92:167-178