Anyone Know This Ginger?

I planted it late in the season, and never saw it flower. Can't remember what it is.

As you can see, each leaf has a dark vein running down it's center.

Thanks.

Sorry skaz421.
I`m no help at all.
I have about 40 gingers on the go at the mo.
Nothing taller than a few inches.
I can hardly wait till mine are as large as yours.

There are several ginger species with the dark center stripe:

Curcuma inodora (avg. 4' tall, red bracts), Curcuma zedoaria (3' maroon-red bracts), and Curcuma aeruginosa (4', pinky-purple bracts). Hybrids of these are also sold under various names and the inflorescence color may vary.



This message was edited Nov 23, 2006 2:55 PM

Thanks, folks. Somebody else thought it might be Curcuma Zedoaria. I remember buying the rhizome at the store, and the package just said Curcuma.

I'll wait until the summer; it may be alot easier to give it a name once I see it flower.

Steve

That's prolly easiest. I really can't tell them apart very well, but I think C. aeruginosa (which can also be solid green) is gray-blue inside the rhizome.

You might Google for more details on each. There may be some characteristic that helps identify one from the other.


Robert.

It's definetly a spring blooming curcuma. When it returns in the spring, if it blooms the inflorescence will come up from the soil before the foliage appears. Any spring bloomers that I've ever seen available in this country have red in mid rib. It does look a lot like sedoaria and they do stay up fairly long into the cooler months. All of mine are still up and still sending up new leaves.
Liz

Liz,

Thanks. I hope it looks that good.

Steve

It is known as Oleana or Olena here...a robust grower which dies back in winter.

Thanks, everyone.

It's still sending out new foliage - hopefully it'll keep it up through the winter.

Steve

I have a question, how long does it take for a shell ginger plant to begin blooming when it has been transplanted? Mine is 7 years old already, and it will not bloom! Thanks, Krispi

Krispi,

If you're talking about Alpinia zerumbet, I've never seen mine bloom. PlantFiles shows some with flowers, so they must, at some point.

I think you'd get a better response if you posted your question in the Gingers forum.

Good luck.

Steve

If your Alpinia is getting any damage to the tips in the winter it won't bloom. All Alpinias (except galanga) bloom on second year growth.
If your curcuma does bloom in the summer it could be australasica. All spring bloomers have red in mid-rib, only a few summer bloomers do. One thing I've found intersying is, any of the summer bloomers we have that do have the red mid rib in the leaves have bloomed from the ground in the spring and then from the plant in the summer. I would say of any particular variety it's been about a 20% ratio of pots that do both. So far we have had only 3 different curcumas do both, all the rest have been either one or the other.
Liz