For the first time, a rather not eye-catching, all green Alpinia in the ginger garden burst into full bloom. Bought last year from a local nursery, this ginger was tagged “Alpina mutica” and is a native to the swampy areas in Malaysia. For those who like common names, this ginger is called Small Shell Ginger or Orchid Ginger. It is a popular ornamental ginger plant and in Peninsular Malaysia, an infusion of the rhizome is taken as a stomachic and for abdominal trouble (source – PROSEA).
I still remember when it first came, the leafy shoots were quite weak, and one can see that the plant was trying to recover from the shock brought about by being uprooted from the ground and then going through extensive rhizome division. The plant looked really sad then.
After it was planted, I had to prop up all the shoots up with bamboo sticks as they got blown about by the wind. Some people could have removed the aerial parts to allow the plant to start anew. Leaving the shoots flopping about in the wind can lead to dessication, which is detrimental to the plant’s health and delay its acclimatisation to the environmental conditions of the location where it has been planted.
About a year has passed, the plant one sees now is vastly different from the time it was planted. It is now a strong, healthy looking plant with sturdy shoots. It has grown taller where the shoots the plant send up are taller than me. It could have attain a height of 2m, fitting in with the botanical description that has been given to this species. The leaves are long and narrow. It flowers quite regularly now as well.
The flowers of this Alpinia are borne on an erect stalk. It is actually quite interesting to see how the stalk unfurls – initially, the entire shoot develops inside a green jacket or sheath and when it is fully developed, the jacket splits open and slips off subsequently to reveal the inflorescence inside. It sounds very much like the metamorphosis from a caterpillar into a butterfly. The flowers are white and the “lip” is orange with numerous red dots and veins and has two red swellings at its tip. At the back of the flower, one can see a small little ball, which is the ovary of the flower. Once pollinated, the flower fade and falls off and little ball swells up and turns into an attractive orange colour when ripe.
