I saw this plant in Banaue Ethnic Village growing under the pine trees. I did not have the time to ask if it was taken from the lowlands or just from the wild. However, i have the feeling that it was from other places and not native to the area. By the way, Banaue is maybe around 1200 MASL in elevation. So, it has mild temperatures resembling a sub-tropical environment.
I had difficulty in my google search as my only lead is the thought that it could be from the ginger family. It has similarity with the many torch ginger flowers i already saw in actual plant or in the web. Finally, i saw a reputable source of identification, which says it is called flowering ginger, hidden cone ginger or Curcuma elata. With the so many genus of ginger in the Zingiberaceae family, it is difficult if you don't know the lead genus. Now with the Curcuma it is easier to locate. However, it looks like it is still uncommon, as Wikipedia listed it but no full article entry yet. Another more scientifically oriented site which analyzes active ingredients from Curcuma also has not performed analysis on it yet.
Of course, ginger plants have long been known to have lots of medicinal uses aside from being used for food and condiment. Curcuma includes the Curcuma longa or turmeric where curry powder comes from. The world's largest producer and most important trading center of turmeric in Asia is Erode, a city in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. For these reasons, Erode in history is also known as "Yellow City" or "Turmeric City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turmeric). On the other hand the ordinary ginger or Zingiber officinale Roscoe has been used as a spice since the olden days. It looks like this Curcuma elata until now remains to be used for its aesthetic function.
And it is beautiful, don't you think so?
Fertilizer Friday here http://www.tootsietime.com
PostScript:
Thank you very much to Sean B. who in the comment section corrected the ID to be C. elata, instead of C. petiolata as i previously labeled. I cannot go to his website as he did not leave his link. I now already checked even the labels.
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Amazing plants that I've been seeing more frequently in botanical gardens... really pretty! Larry
ReplyDeleteHi, Andrea! These flowers look identical to some I've had in my garden for years. I call them Curcuma or hidden ginger. (Don't know the species.) The leaves get fairly large and have a tropical look, but the blooms stay lower than the leaves. I also have a white/purple hued one. They go dormant in our subtropical winters, and we don't usually get our blooms until July.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen these flowers before - how interesting - thank you for sharing! Paula from Idaho
ReplyDeleteI does look like the flowers of the Cucurma longa or turmeric ginger plant which has pale purple or white flowers that look like this. But the tumeric flowers usually grow from a stalk among the leaves, not from the ground like yours.
ReplyDeleteBanaue is a nice place to visit. Even the name sounds romantic.
Beautiful and unique!
ReplyDeleteoh I love the way it comes out of the ground in its surroundings. It certainly looks like one of the curcuma family only I am used to seeing them as a houseplant here in white, pink and purple with their leaves clasp upright around their stems not flowering without their leaves.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea thankz for dropping by with your kind comments. That's a very beautiful ginger flower. So nice. tQ
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasant find! The pink tip is pretty and soft looking. This kind of flowers always amazes me. Now, I wonder if they are grown commercially for florist. Thanks for introducing :-)
ReplyDeletelovely flowers..finally seen one from this..
ReplyDeleteTruly unique and beautiful ...
ReplyDeleteAndrea, thank you for leaving such a kind comment on my blog! What interesting flowers these are! love the pink color!
ReplyDeleteThey look almost like a desert flower...except, they also look tropical...do they need hot, moist weather? Whatever they need, they're really pretty and unusual.
ReplyDeletealoha andrea,
ReplyDeletethese are beautiful, originally i thought these were also tumeric...can you actually imaging cutting this up to use as a spice...just too pretty....
thanks for sharing
noel
How interesting of this flower, growing lower than the leaves! It is very beautiful, maybe I can find one to grow in my garden :)
ReplyDeleteThe ginger flower is a very visually interesting plant!
ReplyDeletesimply sweet! Happy Mother's day!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your beautiful words and time to appreciate my post.
ReplyDeleteI will be away again for awhile and might not post for the whole week. But i promise i will post something next weekend. Thank you very much.
wow...I would love to have some of this eye candy in my gardens!!! thanks for sharing these with us!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you have joined in on FF this week...thank you. I hope you will share with my meme again soon!
So interesting...and quite beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteIts it amazing that these ginger family have so many varities of flowers and all of them are so beautiful & interesting.
ReplyDeletewow, what a pretty pretty flower!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I love ginger - the flowers are gorgeous and I drink ginger tea.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words and thoughts for my hubby and me.
Ginger flowers are indeed so beautiful. I enjoy seeing new plants for the first time on your blog :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much again for those who got in after my first thank you message. I am fascinated by the two Wendys who posted consecutively, isn't it amazing! I love it. Thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful. You have so many whilte flowers. I bet they are lovely when the sun starts to go down. And are they fragrant?
ReplyDeletevisiting and wishing you a lovely weekend..
ReplyDeletebtw: have you been to Strasbourg? hope to visit it one day..we are going in other cities in europe this summer but not in Strasbourg...maybe next time..thanks for the visit in one of my blogs..
more travel blogs here;
Euro Travel
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Euroangel Graffiti
Ginger is so beautiful... you have capture those flowers ... reminding me of the days when I would work with them for some tropical flower arrangements. I love fresh ginger tea. I buy it locally grown from one of our local farmer markets.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually Curcuma Elata, very similar to Curcuma Petiolata save for one difference. Elata blooms first then puts out foliage.Petiolata starts in May with foliage first then blooms mid summer. I love Gingers, I have Curcumas, Costas, Hedychiums, And Alpinias in my Garden. They are by far my favorite plants and grow well in my sub-tropical coastal weather in lower Alabama.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, Andrea! These curcuma grow wild in my garden. Every monsoon they put on a great display and then quietly fade away. I love them while they last. I just wish they'd stick around.
ReplyDelete