| Alpinia | |
|---|---|
| Alpinia purpurata, Red Ginger | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Zingiberaceae |
| Subfamily: | Alpinioideae |
| Tribe: | Alpinieae |
| Genus: | Alpinia Roxb., 1810 |
| Species | |
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See text. |
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Alpinia is a genus of plants, with more than 230 species from the Ginger family (Zingiberaceae). It is named for Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist who specialized in exotic plants.[1]
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These plants grow from large rhizomes. The stem consists of closely folded blades, such as in banana trees. The flowers grow on long racemes. They are popularly grown as ornamentals for their flashy flowers.
They occur in tropical and subtropical climates of Asia and the Pacific.
DNA sequence-based methods have shown that this genus is polyphyletic.[2] It is represented by six clades distributed across the tribe Alpinieae, that do not correspond to Smith's (1990) classification of the genus.[3] Further research is needed to specify the taxa in this genus.
Common species:
Less common species:
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