Alpinia zerumbet (Light galangal, Pink porcelain lily, Shell flower, Shell ginger, Variegated ginger, Butterfly ginger, Japanese: gettō; Chinese: 艳山姜; pinyin: yàn shānjiāng) is a Chinese perennial plant of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae).
Nomenclature and taxonomy
Characteristics
The plant can grow to a height of 1 to 3 m and bears funnel-formed flowers. Flowers have large yellow petals with red spots and stripes. There are three stamens, but only one has pollen. There is one pistil. The fruit is globose with many striations.
Shell ginger blooms and buds
Growing the plant
Alpinia zerumbet is best grown in rich medium-wet, to wet well drained soils in full sun to part shade. Afternoon shade in hot summer climates, is recommended. Indoors, the plant must have bright light and humid conditions. Flowering rarely occurs before the second year.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Native to eastern Asia, this plant is a rhizomatous, ever green tropical perennial that grows in upright clumps 8–10 feet tall in tropical climates. In more typical conditions, it reaches 4–8 feet tall in the green house, and 3–4 feet tall, as a house plant. It is called a sheel ginger or shell flower most commonly, because its individual pink flowers, especially when in bud, resemble sea shells.
Use
The plant's long leaf blades are still used for wrapping zongzi.
Toxicology
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