Flora of New Zealand Series

Wild Ginger

Rhizome large. Stems to 2 m high. Leaves 20-45 × 10-15 cm, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, shortly petiolate or almost sessile; ligule c. 1.5 cm long. Inflorescence 25-45 cm long, open, with narrow, not over-lapping bracts. Flowers pale lemon-yellow with conspicuous red stamen, fragrant; each green tapering bract, 3-6 × c. 1.5 cm, closely enveloping 2 flowers, concealing the calyx and most of the corolla- tube, inner bracts membranous. Calyx c. 3cm long, split on one side, 3-toothed and hairy at apex. Corolla-tube c. 5 cm long, lobes c 3.5 cm long, narrow-linear, acuminate, reflexed. Lateral petaloid staminodia c 2.5 × 0.5 cm, oblong. Labellum strongly bilobed at apex, narrowed at base, 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm wide above. Staminal-filament 5 cm long, bright red, curved; anther < 1 cm long. Stigma brush-like, protruding beyond tip of anther. Capsule 1.5-1.8 cm long, 3-valved, orange inside. Seeds numerous, bright scarlet, 6 × 4 mm shining, with remains of red aril at base.

N. North Auckland; Auckland-Auckland city, Coromandel peninsula, Kawhia; Bay of plenty-Bethlehem, Opotiki; Gisborne City. S. Nelson-Buller. Spreading on roadsides and damp places, very common about Auckland

(India; Himalaya region)

First record: Allan 1940: 30.

First collection: Onehunga, Lloyd, 20.7. 1949 ().

FL. 2-3.

Other spp. of Hedychium are cultivated and may escape from gardens in the future. One such found on the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Rd, Auckland, in 1972 (M. Goodey,CHR 227581) was tentatively identified by Orchard (Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 10, 1973, 116) as a cream-flowered cultivar of H. coccineum var. carneum.

Fig. 7. Hedychium gardnerianum, wild ginger; A flower, B style enveloped in stamen-channel. © All rights reserved. [Image: 26XM]