Flowers rarely but is well worth it just for the foliage. Uses: Australian native gardens and rainforest gardens (understory plant), chemical free gardens, container growing, wildlife attracting including birds, lizards, butterflies, bees and other insects, it is also an effective erosion control plant and is pollution tolerant . Berries are edible and loved by birds, if you're tempted to try the berries eat only the flesh and not the … Common Name: Native Ginger. caerulea: Latin for blue. First true leaf glabrous, cordate or ovate, about 15-20 mm long, petiole as long as or longer than the leaf blade.Second leaf narrower. Etymology: Atractocarpus: From Ancient Greek atractos (spindle)and karpos (fruit) from the […]. Introduction: Alpinia caerulea is a perennial herb which grows in coastal regions of Australia. Its fleshy roots are edible, and may produce white flowers by blue berries. APNI* Description: Perennial herb to 3 m high. The Aborigines wrapped the native ginger plant leaves around meat and cooked it in an earth oven. It is the Alpinia caerulea, better known as Red Backed Ginger, Native Ginger or Ginger ‘Red Back’. At the tenth leaf stage: leaves 2- ranked, leaf blade linear-lanceolate, about 15-16 x 3.5-4 cm, petiolate, apex acuminate, base obtuse, glabrous.Lateral … with help from If you would like to support this site, please consider, http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/floraonline.htm, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This is why I call this plant false cardamom. Photography by Simon Schubert and Minako Howarth. Benth. Genus: Atractocarpus (formaly Randia until 1999). The Red Back Australian Ginger’s large leaves were traditionally cut and used in thatch shelters and as food wrappings during cooking. var. Generally free from pests and diseases. Gardeners appreciate the Native Ginger ‘Red Back’ for the simplistic tropical … Fragrant white flowers appear from late Spring to early Summer, eventually leaving blue berries that may be picked and eaten straight off the stem. Larapinta Trail (Jay Creek to Alice Springs Telegraph Station), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window). Family: RUBIACEAE. Australian native ginger (Alpinia caerulea) with bobble-like blue capsules that contain white pulp. Foliage: The dark green elliptic shaped leaves are up to 40 cm long and 3–10 cm wide. [ August 27, 2020 ] Alpinia caerulea Edible Plants (Common and Australian bushtucker) [ June 27, 2020 ... Foliage: Large glossy dark green leaves with yellowish veins and midrib. The fruit lasts for several months and has an extremely brittle shell containing masses of seeds surrounded by white edible pulp. Turns out it is super closely related, much closer than Etymology: Alpinia: named after Prospero Alpini, Italian botanist (1553-1617). Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status; May 1, 2015: Edwards, P.J. Richard Morris. Common Name:  Native Gardinia, Yellow Mangosteen, Brown gardenia and Orange Randia. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here. web interface by Seeds take about two months while rhizome can easily be divided from existing plant. Please join him on some fun adventures while learning about the life of plants and other interesting facts about our world. Zingiberaceae + Synonyms. Flowers: The inflorescence is a spike, upright and consists of many small white flowers. Fruit: Blue edible fruit (only edible when ripe and blue, not green) 10-18 mm in diameter fruiting Summer to Autumn. Overview Information Alpinia is a plant that is related to ginger. It is a rhizomatous, evergreen perennial that grows in upright clumps to 8-10’ tall. Edible Plants (Common and Australian bushtucker). This ginger is a clumping upright plant with striking maroon/red-backed leaves. Copyright © 2020 | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes. Scientific Name: Alpinia caerulea Derivation of name. Gardeners in mild climates who grow alpinia will be rewarded with colorful terminal flower spikes, while those of us in colder zones where the foliage dies back in the winter will be left to enjoy alpinia … The good news is that Alpinia nutans is a really great plant, even if it isn’t the true cardamom. Maintenance: Keep moist and in shaded location. Alpinia zerumbet, commonly called shell ginger is native to eastern Asia. Ajna Fern Alpinia – named for Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist. Dictionary of Botanical names by Don Perrin. caerulea, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 11: 18(1895). Bushwalking & Camping (National Parks & areas of natural beauty). Common Name: Native Ginger, Wild Ginger, Blue Ginger . The leaves are not glossy, and the foliage has very little fragrance. Learn how your comment data is processed. It has broad sword shaped green leaves with attractive red leaf reverses. Gardens (Botanic, Botanical and other places of interest). Leaves with lamina oblong-lanceolate, up to 40 cm long and 3–10 cm wide, glabrous, apex acuminate; shortly petiolate or sessile; ligule usually 10–15 mm long, entire, or slightly emarginate. He would like to share his experiences and knowledge while learning better practices that will hopefully benefit the future for us all. The pith inside the fruit has a pleasant, refreshing, lemony taste. Origin: Eastern Australia (mid NSW to Far North Queensland). [3583], Thailand: K000720703: May 1, 2015: … Waxy white or pinkish, shell-like, fragrant flowers marked red, purple, or brown in pendent clusters on arching stems. The different plant varieties have similar appearance, odour or taste. A perennial clumping herb with soft thick stems arising from an underground rhizome. Foliage: The dark green elliptic shaped leaves are up to 40 cm long and 3–10 cm … Benth. Typically, the vine leaves are dark green, with a shiny upper surface. Description: Clumping perennial herb to 2 m growing from rhizomes. Alpinia caerulea (R.Br.) Alpinia caerulea – Native Ginger The native ginger is an edible perennial herb, and is a good bush tucker plant. The underground stem (rhizome) is used to make medicine. Large bright green leaves are up to 400 mm long. Flowers: Flowers are small, white and fragrant born on small stalks, flowering Spring to Summer. Though native ginger prefers full shade and moist well-drained soil, it is a very hardy plant and will tolerate part to full sun (though very hot sun can burn the leaves). However, cold weather or insufficient irrigation could also be the culprit here. It more typically reaches 4-8’ tall in the greenhouse and 3-4’ tall as a houseplant. All parts of this species are consumed as a bushfood. and has a nice bushy habit. Origin: Eastern Australia (mid NSW to Far North Queensland). The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong. It is one of the most aromatic plants in my collection. Now one of the more versatile Australian native herbs is Native Ginger (Alpinia caerulea). The database and code is licensed under a Alpinia is a diverse and easy-to-grow genus of tropical and subtropical gingers that hails from southeast Asia. Leaves are obovate … The leaves of this ginger plant are sometimes used in cooking instead of ginger root. Last update on 2019-06-13: Now containing 11906 plants. White flowers are followed by blue fruits. A few species have been known to reach 8 metres (26 ft). Foliage: Its leaves are dark-green and broad-lanceolate shaped. The rhizome (underground stem) is creeping; the stems are upright and straight; the leaves are bright green, narrow, lanceolate and opposite, the flowers are white and red and in terminal clusters appearing in spring; the fruit, for which it is … Alpinia caerulea red is a beautiful ginger native to Australia from the rainforest understories of Northern NSW and Southern QLD. White flowers to 10 mm Alpinia Caerulea Red Back Ginger Often known as the red back ginger, grows to a height of 1.5-2 meters tall, has green leaves with a striking red to maroon colour on the underside of each leaf, it also has fragrant white flowers, which appear out of the tip of the plant during late summer to autumn. X. Herb (herbaceous or woody, under 1 m tall) X. Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall) X. Synonyms Alpinia caerulea (R.Br.) Flowers and leaves Photograph by: Fagg, M. Image credit to Australian National Botanic Gardens. Conservation Statues: Least Concern. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Simon These herbs lack true stems, but have pseudostems usually up to about 3 metres (9.8 ft) long which are composed of the overlapping leaf sheaths. Alpinia caerulea - native redback ginger APPEARANCE : Lush under-story native ginger with glossy evergreen foliage, tan on the reverse. A highly decorative and unusual Costus with hairy spiraling stems with dark coloured leaves and purple undersides. Native ginger Native ginger (Alpinia caerulea) is a traditional bush tucker plant whose leaves and rhizomes have a mild, tangy ginger flavour. Simon Schubert is a qualified Horticulturist who enjoys gardening and bush-walking. Propagation: Propagation is by seed or rhizome. Alpinia caerulea (R.Br.) White flowers are followed by round blue fruits to 15mm in spikes on the ends of the stems. Ken Fern, They grow from thick rhizomes. In their native tropical and subtropical climates native ginger will thrive – in fact, in the tropical north be careful of it taking over – b… Its best climate is the sub-tropics but it will grow well further south in temperate climates (will not tolerate frost) and in tropical climates it will grow so well it could boarder on becoming a weed. If using the roots for eating, harvest them by dig up rhizomes from the edge of the plant to find the new growing tips. Flowers and leaves Photograph by: Fagg, M. Image credit to Australian National Botanic Gardens. Etymology: Alpinia: named after Prospero Alpini, Italian botanist (1553-1617). Edible Plants (Common and Australian bushtucker), Plant Identification (A to Z of plants) It's the right time of the year now to be pruning it back and dividing some of the clumps of the rhizomes. Clumping, multi-stemmed edible, perennial herb to 3 m. Dense, evergreen foliage, alternate leaves to 40 cm. Being understorey plants with tall upright stems they are best positioned for protection from strong or dry winds. Native Ginger Alpinia Caerulea Galangal Seeds Packet of 40+ super fresh home grown seeds! The large upright stems with basal leaves can be a feature. Hellenia caerulea R.Br. Alpinia caerulea is a rhizomatous herb, which can grow up to 2-3 m tall. The colours are truly remarkable, the contrast of the leaves fade from back to front, greens to maroon with the typical ginger type frond. Alpinia caerulea, commonly known as native ginger or in the case of the subspecies from the Atherton Tableland red back ginger, is an understorey perennial herb to 3 m, growing under rainforest, gallery forest and wet sclerophyll forest canopy in eastern Australia. August 27, 2020 The young tender root tips can be used as ginger and have the same gingery taste. Grass. Benth. Description: Clumping perennial herb to 2 m growing from rhizomes. Wild Ginger refers to a number of plant varieties of Ginger. The leaves are large and shiny. The leaves vary considerably in the amount of variegation, with some mostly green streaked with creamy yellow or gold, whereas others are primarily yellow with some green stripes. An ideal understory plant. An evergreen perennial, clumping plant growing to a height of 2 metres with a spread of 1 metre. Growth Requirements: Native ginger prefers a shaded, protected from wind position with a moist well drained humus rich soil. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. The native ginger is an excellent bush tucker food, Rhizomes can be eaten raw or cooked and can be used in curries, desserts and marmalade’s (it is less spicy than traditional ginger, which depending on your tastes maybe a good or bad thing). species: fitzalanii. caerulea – Latin meaning 'blue' in reference to the colour of the fruit Description. The different plant species are : Alpinia Caerulea Asarum Caudatum Hedychium Gardnerianum Asarum Caudatum is named as British Columbia Wild Ginger, Western Wild Ginger and Long Tailed Wild … If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. The leaf sheaths wrap tightly together. Alpinia purpurata is an evergreen, herbaceous, perennial plant producing a clump of leafy stems 3 - 4 metres tall from an underground, creeping rhizome 360 Title Native ginger (Alpinia caerulea) Grows to 3 metres outside but smaller in a pot. Fruits: The fruit are rounded and blue-colored. Native ginger has foliage with broad sword-shaped green leaves with attractive red … In saying that it will tolerate most soils including very sandy, it will tolerate part shade to full sun (although this can lead to burnt, pale leaves) and extended dry periods. Lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum) has red and white flowers and an edible rhizome that is aromatic and spicy. Creamy-white flowers appear in summer followed by clusters of deep blue berries. caerulea: Latin for blue. I always knew this form of green leaved native ginger as Galangal though “native ginger” seems to be more commonly used by everyone else these days. To harvest the … The pulp of the blue berries has a pleasant slightly acid taste, the seed giving a ginger aftertaste. This will ensure the future of the plant while giving you the tastiest fresh shoots. Ethnobotanical Uses Berries can also be picked straight from the plant and leaves can be used for wrapping food for cooking and steaming which will give food a slight gingery taste. The amount of variegation on the leaves varies a lot. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 0. Variegata has green leaves with yellow bands. When you see those passion flower leaves turning yellow, the odds are that your vine isn’t getting the nutrients it needs from the soil. In frost-prone areas the plant may die back to the ground in winter, returning from it’s thick underground rhizomes in the spring. One cataphyll produced before the first true leaf. He has a keen interest in science, the natural world and particularly our environment. Add compost and liquid fertilizer. 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