4. Alpinia Roxburgh, Asiatic Researches. 11: 350. 1810. Ginger-
lily [for Italian botanist Prosper Alpinus (1553--1617)]
Pseudostems well -developed, 1--3 m. Inflorescences projecting
from tip of pseudostem, lax, paniculate; bracts of main axis
remote [imbricate or not], minute [to 7 cm], scalelike [ovate to
lance-oblong or lanceolate]; cincinni stalked, 1--3-flowered;
bracteoles large, conspicuous [small or absent], enclosing
cincinni. Flowers: calyx subcampanulate, shallowly 3-toothed,
split down one side [not split]; corolla tube cylindric, lobes
oblanceolate to elliptical; filament linear, plane; anther
enclosed in corolla, not spurred, terminal appendage none;
lateral staminodes absent or very small and connate with lip,
lip ovate, tubular-incurved, notched. Fruits mostly indehiscent,
globose. x = 11, 12. Species ca. 230 (1 in the flora):
introduced; North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America,
South America; native, Asia, Oceania. Several species of Alpinia
are grown as ornamentals in warm climat