Plant of the Week 05/29/2006: Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet)

Plant of the Week 05/29/2006

Alpinia zerumbet (Persoon) BL Burtt & RM Smith

Photographed by: Chelsie Vandaveer
Credits: Shell ginger photographed in personal garden.
Other Information: Olympus C-8080wz

The shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet (Persoon) BL Burtt & RM Smith) is one of 230 species of Alpinia, a genus in the Zingiberaceae, the ginger family. Alpinia are evergreen gingers native to moist open forests of Australia, China, Southeast Asia, and India. Shell gingers form a bank of arching leafy stems up to 2 meters (6+ feet) tall.

The arching stems, actually pseudostems, grow from a stout rhizome just below the surface of the soil. The rhizome is the true stem; the pseudostems are composed of the petioles of the leaves. The large lanceolate leaves, up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) long, are ranked alternately along the pseudostems.

Shell ginger flowers appear as if formed from milk white wax tinged with purple. Being monocots, the floral parts are in threes, but the shell ginger flower is distinctive.

One, two, or even three, flower buds are surrounded by a white bracteole. The calyx is white, trumpet-shaped, and formed from fused sepals. The corolla contains three petals, two are small, the third is larger and sits atop the flower like a hood. The stamens are unique; one remains a stamen that enfolds the pistil; the other two are modified into staminodes. The staminodes form the bright yellow and red labellum or 'lip petal'.

The flowers were more than a year in the making. The pseudostem arose from the rhizome the previous year. The peduncle of the inflorescence extends from the rhizome through the pseudostem until it emerges at the top as a pendant panicle.

In China, the shell ginger is called yan shan jiang. The large leaves are one of several traditional wraps used for zongzi, rice dumpling made with sticky rice. Zongzi is a time-honored dish prepared and served during Tuen Ng, the dragonboat races and festival celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese year. By our Gregorian calendar, this year, 2006, Tuen Ng falls on May 31^st.

The People's Daily has published an article about the oldest sample of a traditional food found in a 700-year-old tomb. To learn more about zongzi and its traditional connection with Tuen Ng, click on the link: http://english.people.com.cn/200506/08/eng20050608_189199.html

(Compiled from: "Alpinia", Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY, 1976; "4. Alpinia zerumbet", Flora of China, Vol 24, Page 336, http://www.eFloras.org; "Zongzi" and "Dragon boat", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)