Alpinia is a genus of in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, where they occur in tropics and subtropics climates.[ Alpinia. Flora of China.] Several species are cultivated as .[ Alpinia. Flora of North America.]
Taxonomy
The genus was erected by the Scottish botanist
William Roxburgh in 1810, and published in the journal Asiatic Researches. It is named after
Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist who specialized in exotic plants. Species of the genus are known generally as
shell gingers.
File:Alpinia hainanensis ' Shengzhen' w2.jpg| Alpinia hainanensis 'Shengzhen'
File:Alpinia hainanensis ' Shengzhen' 33.jpg| Alpinia hainanensis 'Shengzhen'
Description
These herbs lack true stems, but have pseudostems usually up to about long which are composed of the overlapping leaf sheaths.
[ A few species have been known to reach .][Kress, W. J., et al. (2005). "The molecular phylogeny of Alpinia (Zingiberaceae): a complex and polyphyletic genus of gingers". American Journal of Botany 92(1), 167-78.] They grow from thick . The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong. The inflorescence takes the form of a spike, a panicle, or a raceme. It may be hooded in and bracteoles. The flower has a shallowly toothed sepal which is sometimes split on one side. The flower corolla is a cylindrical tube with three lobes at the mouth, the middle lobe larger and hoodlike in some taxa. There is one fertile stamen and two , which are often joined into a petal-like labellum, a structure that is inconspicuous in some species and quite showy in others. The fruit is a rounded, dry or fleshy capsule.[ The plants are generally aromatic due to their .][Victório, C. P. (2011). "Therapeutic value of the genus Alpinia, Zingiberaceae". Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 21(1), 194-201.]
Species
This is the largest genus in the ginger family,[ with 249 species and 2 hybrids accepted by Plants of the World Online .]
Accepted species
Accepted hybrids
-
Alpinia × ilanensis
-
Alpinia × okinawaensis
Distribution
The genus Alpinia is native to the countries (and regions) of; Andaman Islands, Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Bonin Islands, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, southern China, East Himalaya, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Java, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Maluku Islands, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, Nicobar Islands, Philippines, Queensland, Ryukyu Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Volcano Islands.
Ecology
Most Alpinia are plants of forest understory habitat. Most are pollination by large , but some are pollinated by birds and bats.[
]
Uses
According to a research team of National Chung Hsing University, Alpinia was found to have anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, anti-tumor and other effects.
Gallery
File:Alpinia Calcarata.jpg| Alpinia Calcarata
File:Alpinia galanga2.JPG| Alpinia galanga
File:Alpinia caerulea fruit.jpg| Alpinia caerulea
File:Alpinia calcarata.jpg| Alpinia calcarata
File:月桃.jpg| Alpinia zerumbet
File:Alpinia purpurata Martnique.jpg| Alpinia purpurata
File:Alpinia hainanensis ' Shengzhen' 22.jpg| Alpinia hainanensis "Shengzhen" from Flower View
See also
