I have pics, but no names. can you help me out?
a curcuma, but which one?
Attention Experts, to my rescue please
Disney ginger?
a hidden ginger?
another hidden ginger? or is it a curcuma?
this is a variegated ginger
My only real area of expertise is in the genus Costus, but I will give it a try.
Your first one is a Curcuma, yes, and probably the one that is usually sold as Curcuma cordata. The correct identification of many Curcumas that are in the horticultural trade is very much in dispute right now. There are several botanists working to sort them out.
The second photo is a form of Hedychium coccineum. Whether it is the 'Disney' cultivar there is no way to tell for sure because none of these are registered anywhere and there is no authoritative description to go on. It very well could be 'Disney'.
The third photo is another Curcuma, probably the one that is usually sold as Curcuma petiolata (very much in dispute, as the real petiolata, according to the experts is the one that is sold as Curcuma cordata).
The 4th photo is another Curcuma, and I cannot tell for sure but it almost looks to me like Curcuma longa, the spice turmeric. Dig up one of the rhizomes and if it is bright orange inside, that's it.
And the last one I can say with certainty is the Hedychium hybrid 'Dr. Moy' unless someone else has recently made a new variegated hybrid Hedychium with similar flowers. Dr. Moy actually named this as H. 'Robustum' and Stokes Tropicals has sold it as H. 'Shooting Stars' but it is most widely known as 'Dr. Moy' honoring the breeder.
Dave Skinner
www.gingersrus.com
thank you so much.
Dave, one last one. thanks
is there a positive way if distinguising between a hidden ginger and a curcuma?
looks like a freshly emerging curcuma flower could be confused with a hidden ginger
Vossner, could the last one be 'Elizabeth'?
As to the curcomas, don't they have larger, more erect leaves and the Kaempferias have lower, more horizontal, striped leaves with flat flower petals? I just started buying them both this year, so not sure, but so far that seems to be the way they both look.
Hidden gingers ARE Curcumas! The common name "hidden ginger" usually refers to summer blooming Curcumas - the most common one being Curcuma petiolata. So called because the flowers are usually hidden by the foliage.
The common name for Kaempferias is usually "peacock gingers" - so called because of the patterns on the leaves.
The problem with common names is that they are not universal - they are very localized names that are only meaningful in the region where they are being used. Most of the world calls Zingiber zerumbet the "shampoo ginger", but in the SE US it is called pine cone ginger or pine cone lily and in Hawaii it is "awapui": Then there are a dozen other names in other parts of the world and all for the same plant.
Then there is the other problem where the same common name can be applied to many entirely different plants. I wonder how many plants are called "surprise lily".
forever grateful to ya. thanks.