Alpinia

Roxb.
Source: 
SSA
Description: 
Large perennials 2-4 m tall. Stems long-lived. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate, lanceolate, sheathing; margins pubescent. Inflorescence terminal, pendulous, cincinnate; axis pubescent; bracts absent; bracteole enfolding bud, soon deciduous. Flowers bisexual, usually in pairs; corolla tube shorter than calyx; labellum large and showy. Stamen: anther large; lateral staminodes small, slender. Stigma large, funnel-shaped. Ovary pubescent, 3-locular; placentation axile; epigynous glands erect, tooth-like. Fruit capsular, usually spherical. x = 12.
Distribution: 
Species +/- 200, mainly southeast Asia; 1 species: * Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L.Burtt & R.M.Sm. (Shell ginger) naturalised in sthn Afr. in Hluhluwe area, KwaZulu-Natal.
Classification: 
ZINGIBERACEAE

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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith