Flora of North America species comparison

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Hedychium coronarium

Zingiberaceae

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

ginger family
Habit Herbs, perennial [annual], from tuberous rhizome [tuberous roots].
Aerial stems

present or absent, unbranched.
Leaves

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

basal or basal and cauline, in 2 ranks, differentiated into basal sheath, petiole, and blade, or petiole absent;

sheaths often overlapping to form pseudostem, open, ligule present, summit of petiole not differentiated;

blade with lateral veins parallel, diverging from prominent midrib.
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.

1 per aerial shoot, terminating short stem without laminate leaves or projecting from tip [side] of pseudostem, pedunculate racemes of flowers or of 2–7-flowered monochasial cymes (cincinni);

bracts of main axis enclosing or subtending flowers or cincinni.
Flowers

perianth and staminodes white.

bisexual, bilaterally symmetric;

sepals and petals differentiated, sepals 3, connate, petals 3, connate, but sepals free from petals;

fertile stamens 1, not petal-like;

anthers 2-locular; 2 connate staminodes forming petal-like structure (lip) opposite fertile stamen, sometimes also with 2 petal-like or rudimentary distinct staminodes;

ovary inferior, 3-carpellate, [1-]3-locular, all locules fertile;

placentation axile, parietal, or ± basal;

ovules many per locule;

style held between pollen-sacs of anther, filiform;

stigma funnelform, sometimes slightly 2-lobed;

style base free from stamen and staminodes.
Fruits

capsules or berries;

sepals often persistent in fruit.
Seeds

aril present;

endosperm copious;

perisperm copious;

embryo straight.

Hedychium coronarium

Zingiberaceae
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]
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

Zingiberaceae are tropical, the most diverse family in the Old World. Species of Zingiberaceae are often spicy to the taste, and many of them have been used as medicines and flavorings. The most important commercial spices in the family are ginger, turmeric, and cardamom.

Species of the large tropical American genus Costus Linnaeus, sometimes included in Zingiberaceae but now usually placed in a separate family Costaceae, are cultivated as ornamentals in peninsular Florida and the Gulf Coast. They are known to propagate spontaneously within gardens in Florida and might be expected to escape in disturbed habitats. Species of Costus are perennial herbs with erect stems ca. 1 m tall. The leaves are inserted in many ranks and arranged in a very distinctive open spiral; they consist of a basal sheath, a very short petiole, and a blade; the sheaths do not overlap to form a pseudostem; and the blades have parallel lateral veins diverging from a prominent midrib. The inflorescence is a terminal spike with a large bract subtending each flower; the flowers are bisexual and bilaterally symmetric, with three connate sepals and three connate petals. There is a single fertile stamen and opposite it a petal-like lip representing four fused staminodes; the fruit is a 3-locular capsule. Costaceae differ from all related families in having a well-developed aerial stem with the leaf sheaths not overlapping to form a pseudostem and in the very distinctive leaf arrangement.

Genera ca. 50, species ca. 1300 (4 genera, 4 species in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Inflorescences lax; bracts on main axis of inflorescence minute, scalelike; cincinni stalked, each cincinnus enclosed in large, conspicuous bracteole
Alpinia
1. Inflorescences dense; bracts on main axis of inflorescence lanceolate to reniform, 2–9 cm; cincinni sessile, each cincinnus enclosed in bract, bracteoles small, inconspicuous, hidden by bracts.
→ 2
2. Inflorescences projecting from tip of pseudostem; filament linear; anther long-exserted
Hedychium
2. Inflorescences terminating short stem with only scale leaves; filament rectangular or nearly absent; anther enclosed in corolla.
→ 3
3. Inflorescences cylindric; bracts spreading; proximal bracts ovate, apex obtuse; distal bracts larger, narrowly ovate, apex rounded; lateral staminodes petal-like.
Curcuma
3. Inflorescences conelike; bracts imbricate; proximal bracts reniform or very broadly ovate, apex broadly rounded; distal bracts smaller but otherwise similar to proximal bracts; lateral staminodes absent or reduced to small teeth adnate with lip
Zingiber
Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22, p. 305. Author: Alan T. Whittemore.
Parent taxa Zingiberaceae > Hedychium
Subordinate taxa
Alpinia, Curcuma, Hedychium, Zingiber
Name authority J. Konig: in A. J. Retzius, Observ. Bot. 3: 73–74. (1783) Lindley
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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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