Alpinia purpurata cv. ‘Tahitian Ginger’
Red ginger, jungle queen, jungle king, opuhi uteute, gengibre rojo, Tahitian ginger, ostrich plume, jungle
Red ginger, or Alpinia purpurata, is native to the South Pacific: New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Yap, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Bismarck Archipelago, and Bougainville. It was introduced to Hawai‘i in the 1930s and is now naturalized there. It is not found elsewhere in the wild in North America.
Plants: Plants are 3–15′ (91–457 cm) tall and 2–4′ (60–121 cm) around, on cane-like stems with large leaves.
Leaves: Deep green, 1–2½′ (30–81 cm) long and 4–9″ (10–22 cm) wide, wrapped directly around the stem, with a pointed tip.
Flowers: Each stem produces a single flower 6–12″ (15–30 cm) long. Actually, the brilliant red flower spike isn’t a flower—it is a set of modified leaves (“bracts”). The flowers are small and white, nearly unnoticed. The ‘Tahitian Ginger’ cultivar has a different flower shape. Instead of a cone with relative large bracts, it is a more rounded shape with smaller bracts.
Fruits: Seed capsules, produced only rarely, are globose, about 4–6″ (10–15 cm) long, are dehiscent. Seeds are about 0.0 mils (0 µm) long, black, and oily.
Online References:
The University of Hawai‘i’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Mānoa (Ornamental ginger)
Forest and Kim Starr’s Starr Environmental site (Alpinia purpurata)
The University of Hawai‘i’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Mānoa (Alpinia purpurata)
3/15/2001 · Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens, Papaikou, Hawaii 
ID is uncertain 
| 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 |
Alpinia purpurata cv. ‘Tahitian Ginger’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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