Flora of North America species comparison

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Hedychium coronarium

butterfly ginger, butterfly-lily, gingerlily, white Garland-lily, white ginger lily
Leaf

blades oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 28–48 × 4–7 cm.
Inflorescences

erect, 15–19 × 12–17 cm;

bracts of main axis green;

proximal bracts ovate, concave, 4–5.5 × 2–4.5 cm, apex obtuse or apiculate;

distal bracts lance-oblong or ovate, 4–6 × 1–2.5 cm, apex rounded or apiculate.
Flowers

perianth and staminodes white.

Hedychium coronarium
Phenology Flowering summer–fall (Jun–Oct).
Habitat Swamps, shores of lakes and streams
Elevation 0–50 m (0–200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Australia; native; Asia; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The flowers of Hedychium coronarium are very fragrant. Naturalized populations have been reported several times from southern Louisiana, but the specimens I have seen are sterile and cannot be identified with certainty. There is also an old report from near Brunswick, Georgia (J. K. Small 1933, unpublished ms.), but I have seen no specimens from the state.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Zingiberaceae > Hedychium
Name authority J. Konig: in A. J. Retzius, Observ. Bot. 3: 73–74. (1783)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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