ALPINIA

Variegated ginger - this species is valued for its variegated foliage, and beautiful flowers.

One of the most desirable symbols of Tropics, Alpinia purpurata, red ginger, also called ostrich plume and pink cone ginger, are native Malaysian plants with showy flowers on long brightly colored red bracts. They look like the bloom, but the true flower is the small white flower on top. Red Ginger grows in Hawaii, and many Central American nations, including Belize. It is also found in Samoa, where it is the national flower, and is locally called "teuila." It prefers partial shade and moist humid conditions, although it can tolerate full sun in some climates. It tends to like to be well watered and not left to dry out. Ginger can also be grown as a houseplant and its cut flowers can be used in arrangements.
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Alpinia or Renealmia aromatica is a robust, perennial herbaceous plant, producing clumps of sterile stems 4-7ft tall, exceptionally to 12 ft, from a rhizomatous rootstock. The plant also produces smaller, flowering stems 1-2 ft tall. Leaves and flowers are ginger-aromatic, hence the name. It is native to S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; C. America - Panama to Mexico; Caribbean - Leeward and Windward Isles to Cuba.
The fruits are sometimes gathered from the wild for local use as a flavoring in soups, and the plant also has minor local medicinal uses.

Rare variety with pure white flowers. One of the most desirable symbols of Tropics, Alpinia purpurata, also called ostrich plume and pink cone ginger, are native Malaysian plants with showy flowers on long brightly colored pink bracts. They look like the bloom, but the true flower is the small white flower on top.