Another ID Please

sorry the first posting was the wrong photo although an ID on that will also help. This one is the one from the nursery sale. It goes dormant during winter and spring
Thanks
Mike

It goes completly dormant, dies back? I looks like a Hedychium which are evergreen. It looks like one of Tom Woods short hybrids, like Tropis Bird. Are the flowers very fragrant?

Thanks for the response GingerGrower.

Yes, it dies back completely. It is short in stature. Little or no fragrance on the flowers. Is Tom Woods in Hawaii?

Thanks

Mike

Mike, what Tim meant was that most Hedychiums, especially the hybrids dont go dormant in frost free environments. Since yours does go dormant I think it suggests it is a species that always goes dormant. Based on size and the red stem it may be H. ellipticum or yunnanense. Tom Wood has produced many hybrids and had a nursery in Florida. He has since gone to work as a curator in China.

Tejas, think you meant Richard.

H yunnanense might be it, don't think it could be H ellipticum. I just got starts of several spp in this subgenera / clade of Hedychium this summer. I haven't grown too many other than H gracile before. I have both ellipticum and yunnanense now in multiple forms but haven't bloomed any yet. There seem to be some others that don't quite fit into known spp.

There are some epiphytics that go dormant too, just to confuse things...And evergreen Himalayan spp that will grow as epiphytics etc.



Tim Chapman

Sorry, I wasnt paying attention. Tim, thanks for the additional input. My experience is that ellipticum has a wider leaf than what is showing but after growing several of the this group- ellipticum, gracile, spicatum, and yunnanense from several seed sources it's obvious that there is quite a bit a variability so I just went with a couple of the variables- size, dormancy in Hi. and pseudostem color. I'm far from being an expert at IDing Hedychiums so glad you jumped in.

Thanks for the responses. Obviously there is lot to learn. We don't seem to get the varieties out here in Hawaii unless I'm not looking in the right places. Maybe someone from Hawaii can jump in and let me know if there are local sources.

Can I get one more ID Please. I've only seen this in local nurseries once and, of course, had to have one. Its much whiter than the photo shows and does not form a clump. Bloom is about 5 - 6 feet off the ground.

thanks

Mike

That is Hedychium thrysiforme.