Hedychium coronarium (Butterfly Ginger) on 9-4-12, #118-2.
Butterfly Ginger, White Ginger, Garland Lily
Hedychium coronarium
hed-IK-ee-um kor-oh-NAR-ee-um
Synonyms of Hedychium coronarium (14) (Updated on 12-30-23 from Plants of the World Online): Amomum filiforme W.Hunter, Gandasulium coronarium (J.Koenig) Kuntze, Gandasulium lingulatum (Hassk.) Kuntze, Hedychium chrysoleucum Hook., Hedychium coronarium var. chrysoleucum (Hook.) Baker, Hedychium coronarium var. maximum (Roscoe) Eichler, Hedychium flavescens var. chrysoleucum (Hook.) C.E.C.Fisch., Hedychium gandasulium Buch.-Ham. ex Wall., Hedychium lingulatum Hassk., Hedychium maximum Roscoe, Hedychium prophetae Buch.-Ham. ex Wall., Hedychium spicatum G.Lodd., Hedychium sulphureum Wall., Kaempferia hedychium Lam.
Hedychium coronarium J.Koenig is the accepted scientific name of this species of Hedychium. Both the genus and species were first named and described by Johann Gerhard Koenig in Observationes Botanicae in 1783.
As of 12-30-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online lists 101 species in the Hedychium genus. It is a member of the plant family Zingiberaceae with 57 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO.
THERE ARE A FEW LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR FURTHER READING.
Hedychium coronarium (Butterfly Ginger) on 7-3-12, #107-29.
According to Wikipedia, the Hedychium coronarium is originally from the Himalayas region of Nepal and India. It was brought to Brazil by African slaves who used the leaves for mattresses. It is also the national flower of Cuba. The plant has become invasive in some parts of the world including Hawaii.
Hedychium coronarium (Butterfly Ginger) on 7-3-12, #107-58.
A good friend of mine gave me quite a few of these plants in the fall of 2011. I planted them in the backyard among the Colocasia esculenta. They did well, and a few flowered in 2012. The Butterfly Ginger grows to a height of 4-6 feet in sun to part shade. They are winter hardy in USDA zones 8a-11 (10-40 degrees F.).
Hedychium coronarium (Butterfly Ginger) on 8-4-12, #113-8.
I hated to leave the Butterfly Ginger behind at the mansion when I moved back to mid-Missouri in February 2013. They are not hardy in this zone, and I am not sure about digging them and storing them for the winter. Maybe someday I will try it and see what happens.
Hedychium coronarium (Butterfly Ginger) next to the Colocasia esculenta on 8-4-12, #113-9.
I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. If you notice I made an error, please let me know.
The Belmont Rooster 