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Waxflower

Etlingera

Also called Philippine Waxflower, Torch Ginger, Torch Lily

Waxflower
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0

Etlingera is a genus of more than 100 tropical Indo-Pacific perennial herbs in the ginger family, including the commonly grown Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior) and Philippine Waxflower. Grow them warm, humid and bright, in rich, moist soil.

Family
Zingiberaceae (Ginger family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep soil consistently moist during the growing season and reduce slightly in cooler months.
Soil
Rich, well-drained, moisture-retentive potting mix or garden soil.
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate

About

Etlingera is a genus of Indo-Pacific herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, consisting of more than 100 species found in tropical regions of Afro-Eurasia.

Some of the larger species have leafy shoots reaching almost 10 metres high, and the bases of these shoots are so stout as to seem almost woody. Others of the species grow as clumps of leafy shoots; while others have such long creeping rhizomes that each of their leafy shoots can be more than a metre apart.

Where it grows

Etlingera species are native to India, Bangladesh, Burma, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Queensland, and several Pacific Islands, predominantly close to the equator between sea level and 2500 metres. Members of the genus are also reportedly naturalized in other warm places (Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Central America, Mauritius, and the islands of the Gulf of Guinea.

Other Etlingera plants

Torch-ginger

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Etlingera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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