Hedychium coronarium J. König:
Suriname (South America)
Panama (Mesoamerica)
Nicaragua (Mesoamerica)
Madagascar (Africa & Madagascar)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
India (Asia)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
Guyana (South America)
Ecuador (South America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Venezuela (South America)
Argentina (South America)
French Guiana (South America)
Belize (Mesoamerica)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
Thailand (Asia)
Sri Lanka (Asia)
Vietnam (Asia)
Nepal (Asia)
China (Asia)
Bhutan (Asia)
Brazil (South America)
Burma (Asia)

Hedychium chrysoleucum Hook.:
India (Asia)
China (Asia)

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Global Range: Probably native to the Himalayas and southeastern China, and now naturalized in mesic (Wagner et al. 1990) and wet forest in Hawaii (Smith 1985). It is found on the five largest islands.

Himalaya (Nepal, Sikkim), India, Ceylon, Burma, Malay Islands.

The flowers of Hedychium coronarium are very fragrant. Naturalized populations have been reported several times from southern Louisiana, but the specimens I have seen are sterile and cannot be identified with certainty. There is also an old report from near Brunswick, Georgia (J. K. Small 1933, unpublished ms.), but I have seen no specimens from the state.

1000-1900 m

Cultivated as an ornamental and for medicine and aromatic oil.

Pseudostems 1--3 m. Leaves sessile; ligule 2--3 cm, membranous; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, 20--40 × 4.5--8 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially finely pubescent or thinly hairy, base acute, apex long acuminate. Spikes ellipsoid, 10--20 × 4--8 cm; bracts imbricate, ovate, 4.5--5 × 2.5--4 cm, 2- or 3-flowered. Flowers white, fragrant. Calyx ca. 4 cm, split on 1 side. Corolla tube ca. 8 cm, slender; lobes lanceolate, ca. 5 cm, central one spatulate, apex mucronate. Lateral staminodes oblong-lanceolate, ca. 5 cm. Labellum white, pale yellow at base, obcordate, 4--6 × 4--6 cm, apex 2-cleft. Filament ca. 3 cm; anther ca. 1.5 cm. Ovary sericeous. Fl. Aug--Dec. 2 n = 34.

Leaf blades oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 28--48 ´ 4--7 cm. Inflorescences erect, 15--19 ´ 12--17 cm; bracts of main axis green; proximal bracts ovate, concave, 4--5.5 ´ 2--4.5 cm, apex obtuse or apiculate; distal bracts lance-oblong or ovate, 4--6 ´ 1--2.5 cm, apex rounded or apiculate. Flowers: perianth and staminodes white.

Hedychium coronarium var. baimao Z. Y. Zhu.

Comments: Naturalized in mesic (Wagner et al. 1990) and wet forest in Hawaii (Smith 1985).

Forests, also cultivated. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].

Flowering summer--fall (Jun--Oct). Swamps, shores of lakes and streams; 0--50 m; introduced; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; Australia; native, Asia; Australia.

The ecology of Hedychium coronarium has been little studied. It appears to be relatively shade tolerant, as indicated by its growth in partial shade at Kamakou Preserve. It is capable of growing in exposed sites. Seed is produced at lower elevations in Hawaii, but have lower dispersal potential because seeds are not displayed for avian vectors (Smith pers. comm. 1985). Seed is not produced on Hawaii Island at 1,200 m elevation (Cuddihy pers. comm., Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 1991). White ginger does not produce seeds at Kalopa State Park at 600 m (Tomich pers. comm., State of Hawaii, 1991 ). Exact elevation limits to seed production are not known. White ginger distribution at Kamakou Preserve can be explained by dispersal of rhizome fragments by water or road maintenance machinery. Dense colonies arise vegetatively by spread of the rhizomes.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 4
Species: 5
Species With Barcodes: 1

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Reasons: Exotic to the United States. Naturalized and invasive in the 5 major Hawaiian islands.

Management Requirements: Hedychium coronarium should be controlled at Kamakou, especially in drainages because of a threat to rare mesic shrubland flora in these sites.

Kamakou staff has effectively controlled some Hedychium coronarium populations by a combination of manual and mechanical means. These labor-intensive methods are effective on invasive ginger species in Hawaii. Often considerable follow-up is needed because of the difficulty of locating and removing all rhizome fragments, which are capable of resprouting.

A mechanical method that has been effective on kahili ginger and would probably work on white ginger is repreated mowings. The shoots are cut off with a weed eater. Resprouting shoots are cut when they reach 12 inches. Ninety percent control is achieved with kahili ginger in approximately one year, although complete control may require several years (Markowitz pers. comm.).

Escort, at a concentration of 4.5 g/l of water, without a surfactant, is highly effective on kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum) (Cuddihy pers. comm.(b)). This was also relatively effective on an unreplicated trial on white ginger at Hawaii Volcanoes.

Tomich (pers. comm.) found that undiluted Roundup was effective on white ginger when applied to the above ground roots emerging from the rhizomes, after the shoots were removed. However, local State Department of Agriculture officials should be consulted before using this method, which may be interpreted as a foliar application rather than a cut-surface application.

Management Programs: Hedychium coronarium has been controlled at Kalopa State Park (Tomich pers. comm.). Kamakou has successfully controlled some white ginger colonies.

Management Research Programs: Arakaki is studying the effectiveness of Escort in Hedychium coronarium control at Kamakou Preserve (Misaki pers. comm.)

Management Research Needs: Identification of an effective non-mobile herbicide would be useful in control of Hedychium coronarium at Kamakou. Detailed studies of life-history and ecology, useful for state-wide control of widespread species such as clidemia (Clidemia hirta) are not needed for a localized threat such as white ginger.

Stewardship Overview: Hedychium coronarium is capable of forming dense, single species stands by vegetative spread through the expansion of a dense rhizome. The importance of spread from seed may be minimal except at lower elevations. White ginger is one of the most disruptive alien plant species at Kamakou Preserve, particularly in drainages in mesic sites where rare plants tend to be concentrated. Control away from drainages can be carried out by herbicides, Escort being the most likely candidate. Control in the drainages should probably be mechanical/manual unless a non-mobile herbicide can be identified. Recovery in white ginger sites and production of viable seed at Kamakou should be monitored, if time permits.

Species Impact: Smith (1985) ranks Hedychium coronarium as one of the 86 most disruptive alien plants in Hawaii because of its capacity to form extensive single species stands. It is considered a pest by Smith (1985) only on Maui and Hawaii. However, white ginger is also disruptively invasive on Molokai at Kamakou Preserve. It is not found at Waikamoi Preserve.