國花系列:BUTTERFLY GINGER LILY (尼加拉瓜)

White butterfly ginger lily, or simply ginger lily, is a tropical perennial and a cousin of culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale) of bread, snap and ale fame. It's green stalks grow from thick rhizomes to a height of 3-7 ft (0.9-2.1 m). Leaves are lance-shaped and sharp-pointed, 8-24 in (20-61 cm) long and 2-5 in (5-12.7 cm) wide and arranged in 2 neat ranks that run the length of the stem. From midsummer through autumn the stalks are topped with 6-12 in (15.2-30.5 cm) long clusters of wonderfully fragrant white flowers that look like butterflies. The flowers eventually give way to showy seed pods chock full of bright red seeds.

又名香雪花，爲姜科姜花屬。壽命約3年。根莖與美人蕉相似，並具姜味，外皮淡紅色。根呈白色，長30—60釐米，莖強壯。高1—2米，不分枝。葉爲平行脈，寬10釐米，長20釐米，呈橢園披針形，葉柄長30釐米左右，包乾莖上，葉16—17枚，互生於莖之兩側。花穗生於莖頂，外具綠色鱗片狀苞，苞中開花4—6朵，萼薄如紙，花瓣3枚，不甚明顯，雄蕊呈花瓣狀，共3枚。左右兩枚呈長橢園形，中間一枚較大，上端略分裂，其中央有長約3釐米的雌雄合蕊體，花純白色，花期夏季。性喜高溫、多溼、半蔭環境。




Location
Ginger lily, Hedychium coronarium is native to India. It is a popular landscape plant throughout Florida, the Gulf Coast, California, the Caribbean and tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Ginger lily also is grown in mild winter temperate regions of North America and Europe where it dies back in winter but re-emerges in spring.

姜花(Hedychium coronarium)
別名蝴蝶花、香雪花、夜寒蘇、姜蘭花，屬姜科姜花屬多年生草本植物。本屬約50～60種。中國有20餘種。雲南產16種，全省各地均有分佈。
同屬植物中還有黃姜花(H. flavum)，產於貢山、洱源等地。
白姜花(soleucum) 產雲南大部分地區，生於海拔600～2100米的疏林灌叢中。

姜花花色素雅，清香宜人，花形奇特，每年3～10月都有不同品種的姜花開放。



Culture
Light: Partial shade to full sun.
Moisture: Likes rich soil with adequate moisture.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 7b-11. Ginger lily is a tropical plant. It tolerates an occasional light freeze and frost. A hard frost will kill it to the ground but it comes back quickly.
Propagation: Ginger lily is easy to propagate - simply dig it up, cut the root into 8 in (20 cm) pieces and replant.

Usage
Ginger lily makes a beautiful background plant and looks great planted in large clumps at the edge of woodsy areas. Use the butterfly ginger in low wet areas where it will thrive. The fresh green foliage makes a great framework for smaller plants and works well in tubs and outdoor container plantings.

Features
Easy to grow and easy to propagate. The fresh sweet scent of this plant in bloom is a real treat on warm evenings. Plant it near a patio or window so you can enjoy the gardenia-like fragrance. The flowers attract moths at night.

生態習性
喜溫暖、溼潤、稍有的環境，要求肥沃、疏鬆、排水良好的微酸性沙質土壤多生於海拔900-1400m的常綠闊葉林中。沿喜馬拉雅諸國及斯里蘭卡、緬甸、越南也產。

花語：無聊