Alpinia Explained
Alpinia is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, where they occur in tropical and subtropical climates.[1] Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants.[2]
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.
Description
These herbs lack true stems, but have pseudostems usually up to about long which are composed of the overlapping leaf sheaths.[1] [2] A few species have been known to reach .[3] They grow from thick rhizomes. 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 bracts and bracteoles. The flower has a shallowly toothed calyx 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 staminodes, 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.[1] [2] The plants are generally aromatic due to their essential oils.[4]
Species
This is the largest genus in the ginger family,[3] with 248 species and 2 hybrids accepted by Plants of the World Online . A number of those are commonly grown for their flowers, including red ginger, and others are used as spices, including Galangal.
Accepted species
- Alpinia abundiflora
- Alpinia acuminata
- Alpinia adana
- Alpinia aenea
- Alpinia albipurpurea
- Alpinia amentacea
- Alpinia apoensis
- Alpinia aquatica
- Alpinia arctiflora
- Alpinia arfakensis
- Alpinia argentea
- Alpinia arundelliana
- Alpinia asmy
- Alpinia assimilis
- Alpinia athroantha
- Alpinia austrosinense
- Alpinia bambusifolia
- Alpinia beamanii
- Alpinia biakensis
- Alpinia bodenii
- Alpinia boia
- Alpinia boninsimensis
- Alpinia borraginoides
- Alpinia brachyantha
- Alpinia brevilabris
- Alpinia breviligulata
- Alpinia brevis
- Alpinia caerulea
- Alpinia calcarata
- Alpinia calcicola
- Alpinia calycodes
- Alpinia capitellata
- Alpinia carinata
- Alpinia carolinensis
- Alpinia celebica
- Alpinia chaunocolea
- Alpinia chinensis
- Alpinia chrysorachis
- Alpinia coeruleoviridis
- Alpinia conchigera
- Alpinia condensata
- Alpinia conferta
- Alpinia congesta
- Alpinia conghuaensis
- Alpinia conglomerata
- Alpinia copelandii
- Alpinia coriacea
- Alpinia coriandriodora
- Alpinia corneri
- Alpinia cumingii
- Alpinia cylindrocephala
- Alpinia dasystachys
- Alpinia dekockii
- Alpinia densibracteata
- Alpinia densiflora
- Alpinia denticulata
- Alpinia diffissa
- Alpinia divaricata
- Alpinia diversifolia
- Alpinia domatifera
- Alpinia elegans
- Alpinia elmeri
- Alpinia emaculata
- Alpinia epiphytica
- Alpinia eremochlamys
- Alpinia euastra
- Alpinia eubractea
- Alpinia fax
- Alpinia flabellata
- Alpinia flagellaris
- Alpinia formosana
- Alpinia foxworthyi
- Alpinia fusiformis
- Alpinia gagnepainii
- Alpinia galanga
- Alpinia gigantea
- Alpinia glabra
- Alpinia glabrescens
- Alpinia glacicaerulea
- Alpinia globosa
- Alpinia gracillima
- Alpinia graminea
- Alpinia guinanensis
- Alpinia haenkei
- Alpinia hagena
- Alpinia hainanensis
- Alpinia hansenii
- Alpinia havilandii
- Alpinia hibinoi
- Alpinia himantoglossa
- Alpinia hirsuta
- Alpinia hoangviet
- Alpinia hongiaoensis
- Alpinia horneana
- Alpinia hulstijnii
- Alpinia hylandii
- Alpinia illustris
- Alpinia inaequalis
- Alpinia intermedia
- Alpinia janowskii
- Alpinia japonica
- Alpinia javanica
- Alpinia jianganfeng
- Alpinia jingxiensis
- Alpinia juliformis
- Alpinia kawakamii
- Alpinia kiungensis
- Alpinia klossii
- Alpinia koidzumiana
- Alpinia koshunensis
- Alpinia kusshakuensis
- Alpinia kwangsiensis
- Alpinia lalashanensis
- Alpinia laosensis
- Alpinia latilabris
- Alpinia lauterbachii
- Alpinia laxisecunda
- Alpinia leptostachya
- Alpinia ligulata
- Alpinia ludwigiana
- Alpinia maclurei
- Alpinia macrocephala
- Alpinia macrocrista
- Alpinia macroscaphis
- Alpinia macrostaminodia
- Alpinia macrostephana
- Alpinia macroura
- Alpinia malaccensis
- Alpinia manii
- Alpinia manostachys
- Alpinia martini
- Alpinia maxii
- Alpinia melichroa
- Alpinia menghaiensis
- Alpinia mesanthera
- Alpinia microlophon
- Alpinia modesta
- Alpinia mollis
- Alpinia mollissima
- Alpinia monopleura
- Alpinia multispica
- Alpinia murdochii
- Alpinia musifolia
- Alpinia mutica
- Alpinia myriocratera
- Alpinia nantoensis
- Alpinia napoensis
- Alpinia nelumboides
- Alpinia newmanii
- Alpinia nidus-vespae
- Alpinia nieuwenhuizii
- Alpinia nigra
- Alpinia nobilis
- Alpinia novae-hiberniae
- Alpinia novae-pommeraniae
- Alpinia nutans
- Alpinia oblongifolia
- Alpinia odontonema
- Alpinia officinarum
- Alpinia oligantha
- Alpinia orientalis
- Alpinia orthostachys
- Alpinia oui
- Alpinia ovata
- Alpinia ovoidocarpa
- Alpinia oxymitra
- Alpinia oxyphylla
- Alpinia padacanca
- Alpinia pahangensis
- Alpinia papuana
- Alpinia parksii
- Alpinia penduliflora
- Alpinia petiolata
- Alpinia pinnanensis
- Alpinia platychilus
- Alpinia platylopha
- Alpinia polyantha
- Alpinia porphyrea
- Alpinia porphyrocarpa
- Alpinia pricei
- Alpinia psilogyna
- Alpinia ptychanthera
- Alpinia pubiflora
- Alpinia pulchella
- Alpinia pulcherrima
- Alpinia pulchra
- Alpinia pumila
- Alpinia purpurata
- Alpinia pusilla
- Alpinia rafflesiana
- Alpinia regia
- Alpinia rigida
- Alpinia romblonensis
- Alpinia romburghiana
- Alpinia rosacea
- Alpinia rosea
- Alpinia roxburghii
- Alpinia rubricaulis
- Alpinia rubromaculata
- Alpinia rufa
- Alpinia rufescens
- Alpinia rugosa
- Alpinia salomonensis
- Alpinia samoensis
- Alpinia sandsii
- Alpinia scabra
- Alpinia schultzei
- Alpinia seimundii
- Alpinia sericiflora
- Alpinia sessiliflora
- Alpinia shimadae
- Alpinia shoukaensis
- Alpinia siamensis
- Alpinia sibuyanensis
- Alpinia singuliflora
- Alpinia smithiae
- Alpinia stachyodes
- Alpinia stenobracteolata
- Alpinia stenostachys
- Alpinia strobilacea
- Alpinia strobiliformis
- Alpinia subfusicarpa
- Alpinia submutica
- Alpinia subspicata
- Alpinia subverticillata
- Alpinia superba
- Alpinia suriana
- Alpinia tamacuensis
- Alpinia tonkinensis
- Alpinia tonrokuensis
- Alpinia trachyascus
- Alpinia tristachya
- Alpinia unilateralis
- Alpinia uraiensis
- Alpinia valetoniana
- Alpinia velutina
- Alpinia velveta
- Alpinia versicolor
- Alpinia vietnamica
- Alpinia vitellina
- Alpinia vitiensis
- Alpinia vittata
- Alpinia vulcanica
- Alpinia warburgii
- Alpinia wenzelii
- Alpinia werneri
- Alpinia womersleyi
- Alpinia zerumbet
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 pollinated by large bees, but some are pollinated by birds and bats.[3]
Uses
According to a research team of National Chung Hsing University, Alpinia was found to have anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, anti-tumor and other effects.[5]
See also
Notes and References
- http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=101188 Alpinia.
- http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=101188 Alpinia.
- 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.
- Victório, C. P. (2011). "Therapeutic value of the genus Alpinia, Zingiberaceae". Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 21(1), 194-201.
- Book: 惠蓀饗宴 植栽食藥用植物圖鑑. 曾彥學 . 978-986-04-7966-9 . 曾彥學、邱輝龍、吳佾鴻 . 2017 . 國立中興大學農業暨自然資源學院實驗林管理處 .