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Hedychium coronarium

Common name:	Butterfly Ginger	Family:	Zingiberaceae
Author:	J.König.	Botanical references:	200, 266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - India.
Habitat:	Moist places along streams and on forest edges[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	H. coronatium[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Butterfly Ginger [H], Gandasuli [E], Gondasoeli [E], Mandasoeli [E], White Ginger-lily [B], White Gingerlily [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	corona = crown; coronarium = for wreathes or garlands;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Zingiberales. Ginger family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China; Hawaii; India; Indonesia; Indonesia(Moluccas); Java; Moluccas; Us(Hawaii)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.5m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from August to October. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist or wet soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Bog Garden, Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Flowers.

Young buds and flowers are eaten or used as a flavouring[177, 183].
Root - cooked. A famine food used when all else fails[177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antirheumatic; Aromatic; Carminative; Febrifuge; Stomachic; Tonic.

The seed is aromatic, carminative and stomachic[218].
The root is antirheumatic, excitant and tonic[218, 240]. The ground rhizome is used as a febrifuge[240].
An essential oil from the roots is carminative and has anthelmintic indications[240].
The plant has been used as a remedy for foetid nostril[240].

Other Uses

Essential; Paper.

The stems contain 43 - 48% cellulose and are useful in making paper[218].
An essential oil obtained from the flowers is valued in high grade perfumes[240].
The root contains 1.7% essential oil, which is used medicinally[240].

Cultivation details

Requires a rich moist soil and a sunny position[233]. It succeeds in shallow water[200] and can also be grown in a sunny border as a summer sub-tropical bedding plant[[1].
Plants are not very hardy, they tolerate temperatures down to about -2°c and can be grown at the foot of a south-facing wall in the milder areas of Britain if given a good mulch in the winter[1, 200].
The flowers have a delicious perfume which is most pronounced towards evening[245].
Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[233].
The tubers should be only just covered by soil[233].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a warm greenhouse at 18°c[200]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on for at least their first winter in the greenhouse. Plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts.
Division as growth commences in the spring[200]. Dig up the clump and divide it with a sharp spade or knife, making sure that each division has a growing shoot. Larger clumps can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, but it is best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a greenhouse until they are established. Plant them out in the summer or late in the following spring.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a delicious perfume which is most pronounced towards evening.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Hedychium coronatium (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for the family Zingiberaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

Useful plants of Madagascar

Rich (pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk) Tue Nov 16 11:22:24 1999

I've just got a lovley little book in French on the useful plants of Madegascar (Plantes utiles des hautes terres de Madagascar) by Jean-Marie Samyn. Its got descriptions, photos and uses of about 100 plants listed below. You can also see all the details online at Plantes utiles.

Abrus precatorius, Acacia dealbata, Acacia mearnsii, Agauria salicifolia, Agauria polyphylla, Ageratum conyzoides, Albizzia gummifera, Aloe capitata, Aloe todaro, Aloe macroclada, Anthocleista madagascariensis, Apholoia theaeformis, Brachylaena ramiflora, Buddleja madagascariensis, Caesalpinia sepiaria, Caesalpinia decapetala, Cassia laevigata, Cassia mimosoides, Cassia occidentalis, Catharanthus lanceus, Catharantus roseus, Centella asiatica, Clerodendrum emirnense, Clerodendrum putre, Commelina madagascarica, Crinum firmifolium, Crinum ligulatum, Crinum voyoni, Cussonia bojeri, Cynodon dactylon, Datura stramonium, Dodonae madagascariensis, Dodonae viscosa, Emilia citrina, Eugenia jambolana, Eugenia jambos, Euphorbia hirta, Euphorbia milii, Euphorbia primulaefolia, Evodia madagascariensis, Ficus baroni, Ficus apodocephala, Ficus pachyclada, Ficus roussonetiaefolia, Ficus trichosphaera, Ficus pyrifolia, Ficus melleri, Ficus soroceoides, Ficus claoxyloides, Ficus phanerophlebia, Ficus xiphocuspis, Floscopa glomerata, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Gomphocarpus cornutus, Haronga madagascariensis, Hedychium coronarium, Helichrysum bracteiferum, Helichrysum cordifolium, Helichrysum gymnocephalum, Kalanchoe laxiflora, Kalanchoe prolifera, Kaliphora madagascariensis, Lantana camara, Leonotis nepetaefolia, Maesa lanceolata, Melia azedarach, Mimosa latispinosa, Mimosa pudica, Mussaenda arcuata, Nicandra physaloides, Pavonia urens, Phyllarthron madagascariense, Physalis peruviana, Phytolacca dodecandra, Psiadia altissima, Psorospermum androsacemifolium, Ricinus communis, Senecio faujasioides, Senecio longiscapus, Sida rhombifolia, Siegesbeckia orientalis, Solanum mauritianum, Solanum nigrum, Tachiadenus longiflorus, Trema orientalis, Trema affinis, Trema cummersonii, Trema grevei, Trema grisea, Trema guineensis, Trema treme, Trema velutina, Uapaca bojeri, Urena lobata, Vernonia appendiculata.

Details of Growing Condition: Madagascar.

Cross references: Plants: Caesalprina decapetala, Euphorbia hirta, Centella asiatica, Ageratum conyzoides, Siegesbeckia orientalis pubescens, Ricinus communis, Melia azedarach, Pyrus pyrifolia, Dodonea viscosa, Nicandra physaloides, Physalis peruviana.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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