A good friend gave me this treasure, and so far it has been a prolific bloomer. Wonder if anyone can name this curcuma. The blooms are of a beautiful lavender and they make excellent cut flowers.
Needs help in identifying this curcuma.
looks just like my curcuma petiolata ( hidden ginger)
Yes Jaye,that is a curcuma hidden ginger we have some just like that and they are pretty when they bloom.
This message was edited Jan 3, 2009 11:32 AM
This message was edited Jan 3, 2009 9:22 PM
Lppks a bit light but could it be Curcuma australasica [Cape York Lily] Ann
here's my petiolata, yours looks more like the petiolata than the
australasica that one seems to be a much darker pink
Definitely looks more like yours than mine :) Ann
The Curcuma australasica that's native to our area is more like the one in heavenscape's photo than Ann's (pogonantha). I'll try dig up a photo to compare.
This is our native Curcuma australasica.
Tropicbreeze,love the color of that one.
They aren't actually native to my area, more to up north Cape York and NT where the Wet and Dry are more pronounced but you'll find them growing as ornamentals quite frequently here. Ours are always more purple than pink, fatter than yours and have a faint reddy purple streak down the center of the leaf. I wonder if there is some genetic variation? I know they set seed as The DPI NT was working on a cut flower breeding program with curcumas. Ann
I'd agree Ann, that the distance between Cape York and the NT could produce reasonable differences. But your mention of the "faint reddy purple streak down the center of the leaf" reminds me of some I got from a nursery`a few years ago. They were small tubers and I was told they were Thai Curcuma, coming from a climate similar to ours. When they came up they had that streak you described. They haven't persisted very well and have been overgrown. I suppose I should take them out and put them in a better spot.