Zingiberaceae is a family of 51 genera and c. 1200 species which
are related to bananas, bird-of-paradise flowers and Canna
lilies. They are found in all tropical forests but most occur
between India and New Guinea. Ginger, turmeric and cardamom are
the most important economic species being grown in great
quantities for international trade. M.F. Newman now leads
research on the gingers at the RBG but former colleagues first
started to study the Zingiberaceae in the early 1960s when B.L.
Burtt and P.J.M. Woods brought back material from Sarawak. Later
R.M. Smith worked on this family until her retirement in 1993,
producing accounts for Borneo, Australia and Bhutan as well as a
new infrageneric classification of the largest genus Alpinia.
This is a searchable data base for taxonomists which has been
built up at the RBGE with help from staff of Singapore Botanic
Gardens. It contains information about scientific names and
their type specimens, and also about herbarium collections which
has been verified by specia