Third Symposium on Zingiberaceae

Plants

As much as I enjoyed meeting the people, the symposium was, after all, really about the plants. A new project was initiated to compile images of zingiberaceous plants on a website. For more details go to the Zingiberaceae Image Project. I have started placing plant images on this new system and hopefully will be adding many more as the contributions start pouring in.

I learned just how naive I have been about gingers - how much more there is to be learned and discovered. New gingers are being discovered and described every year. The identification of many gingers, especially in the genera Curcuma, Globba, Alpinia, Boesenbergia and Amomum, is still very difficult even for the experts. Many gingers that are sold in the USA in the horticultural trade are being sold under incorrect names.

One of the highlights of the trip was the excursion to Phu Phan National Park where we were able to see gingers in their native habitat. I took several "habitat shots" - pictures of the areas where the gingers were growing. The most spectacular sight, at least to me, was to see the grassy fields of "Siam Tulips" (Curcuma alismatifolia) growing and blooming in such splender. The symposium organizers have provided a list of gingers found at Phu Phan and included some pictures of the plants at http://www.champa.kku.ac.th/zingi/Phoo%20phan.html.

Here are some of the pictures I took of gingers growing at Phu Phan National Park.
(Click on the thumbnail image to open a larger image then use your BACK button to return to this page.)

Boesenbergia rotunda at Phu Phan	Unidentified Costus at Phu Phan	Unidentified Costus at Phu Phan
Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan	Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan	Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan
Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan	Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan	Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan
Curcuma alismatifolia at Phu Phan	Curcuma gracillima at Phu Phan	Curcuma gracillima at Phu Phan
Curcuma gracillima at Phu Phan	Curcuma parvaflora at Phu Phan	Curcuma parvaflora at Phu Phan
Curcuma parvaflora at Phu Phan	Unidentified Curcuma at Phu Phan	Said to be Curcuma Sessilis - at Phu Phan
Said to be Curcuma Sessilis - at Phu Phan	Unidentified Curcuma at Phu Phan	Unidentified Curcuma at Phu Phan
Dave Skinner with Curcuma field at Phu Phan	said to be Globba annamensis at Phu Phan	said to be Globba annamensis at Phu Phan
said to be Globba annamensis at Phu Phan	said to be Globba annamensis at Phu Phan	said to be Globba annamensis at Phu Phan
Habitat shot at Phu Phan	Habitat shot at Phu Phan	Habitat shot at Phu Phan
Habitat shot at Phu Phan	Jana Skornickova with Curcuma field at Phu Phan	Jana Skornickova with Curcuma field at Phu Phan
Kaempferia filifolia	Kaempferia filifolia at Phu Phan	Kaempferia filifolia at Phu Phann
Unidentified Kaempferia from Laos at Chatuchat Market	Plant display in poster area	Plant display in poster area
Plant display in poster area

Here is just a small list of some notes I took - things that caught my interest at the symposium.........

There is an Alpinia called A. zingiberina that is very similar to A. galanga, but has reddish color on the labellum instead of pure white. I wonder about the one that is sold in the USA.
The Alpinia that is sold in the USA as A. japonica kininsiana 'Peppermint Stick' is actually an interspecific hybrid of A. japonica and A. intermedia.
The Curcuma that is sold in the USA as C. gracillima 'Candy Cane' is actually Curcuma rhabdota - not C. gracillima or even close to it.
Another beautiful Curcuma found in India is C. ecalcarata (got to find that one somehow).
Globbas can best be distinguished by the number and location of staminode appendages and the deciduous vs. persistent bracts. Many that are sold in the horticultural trade as G. winitii forms, are NOT G. winitii at all!
Kaempferia parviflora (the plant incorrectly named K. lateriflorus at Gainesville Tree Farm) is considered by the Thais as an aphrodisiac, and has been exported to the USA as an ingrediant in a Viagra-like herbal. The price has risen in Thailand from 50 baht per kilo to 300 baht per kilo. I wonder if Russel Adams knows he has a gold mine there.
There is a Kaempferia called K. fillifolia that you would NEVER GUESS to be a Kaempferia. It is common in NE Thailand.
A beautiful new Kaempferia (K. candida) was recently described that has white flowers and the flowers appear before the foliage like K. rotunda.
Another newly described Kaempferia is K. grandifolia (is this the one we are calling K. rotunda 'Grande'?).
There is a new Kaempferia species called the "leopard Kaempferia", not yet described.
Yet another new Kaempferia with longitudinal silvery stripes was collected in Laos. It is uncertain whether it is a form of K. angustifolia or a new species.
Smithatris supranae (formerly Hitchenia 'Siam Platinum') was used for centuries in monasteries before being officially named and described last year.
There is a probably new species of Smithatris that was found in Chiang Mai, currently under study.
A new Hannifia alba has both basal and terminal inflorescense. (Is this the same as Haniffia albiflora? That plant has beautiful foliage.)
Several Boesenbergias have very ornate leaf patterns, and good potential in horticulture.
The basal genus of gingers is the African genus Siphonochilus.
There is a beautiful Zingiber niveum with white bracts. (Could this be the one sold as Zingiber 'Milky Way'?)
Another pretty Zingiber is common in NE Thailand that I have not yet seen in the horticultural trade - Z. junceum.
Zingiber spectabile, commonly called the "beehive ginger" has two forms - yellow bracts and red bracts. That explains the one I saw at Fairchild Gardens!

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