Alpinia purpurata (Red ginger)

Alpinia purpurata (Vieill.) K. Schum.

Red ginger, jungle queen, jungle king, opuhi uteute, gengibre rojo, Tahitian ginger, ostrich plume, opuhi

Red ginger is native to Maluku and the southwest Paciific islands. This very showy flower appears in red (“jungle king”) and pink (“jungle queen”). Red ginger is native to New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Yap, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Bismark Archipelago, and Bougainville. It was introduced to Hawai‘i prior to 1930, where it is now naturalized. In Hawai‘ian, red ginger is known as ‘awapuhi ‘ula‘ula.

Plants: These spread via rhizomes, which spread sideways, producing new shoots. Plants can reach 9′ (2.7 m) in height.

Leaves: Leaves are oblong, large, and shiny, on cane-like stems.

Flowers: Flowerheads are conical, cylindrical, or egg-shaped, bright red, pink or white, and up to 1′ (30 cm) long. The flowerheads are actually bracts— modified leaves. Inconspicuous white flowers are hidden inside the bracts.

Habitats: Consistently moist soil, humid conditions, and partial shade.

Edibility: Skull & Crossbones There are many “gingers,” some loosely related, some completely unrelated. This one is not edible or tasty, and quite poisonous. (Edible ginger is Zingiber officinale.)

Online References:

Forest and Kim Starr’s Starr Environmental site

The USDA Plants Database (PDF)

CalPhotos at the University of California, Berkeley

Hawaiian Plants and Tropical Flowers

The National Tropical Botanical Garden

The University of Hawai‘i’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Mānoa (PDF)

1/5/2026 · Guam · By Jacquelyn Boyt

3/15/2001 · Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens, Papaikou, Hawaii

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Zingiberidae	Gingers and related plants
Order	Zingiberales	Ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galangal, myoga, bananas, arrowroot, and others
Family	Zingiberaceae	Ginger family
Genus	Alpinia	Shell gingers
Species	purpurata	Made purple

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Alpinia purpurata description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.