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Roscoea tibetica is a small perennial ginger-family geophyte from high Chinese mountains, growing 5 to 15 cm tall with purple flowers in early summer. It dies back to tuberous roots each year and suits a sunny rock garden with well-drained, moisture-retaining soil.
Roscoea tibetica is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the mountains of China, being found in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan. The species formerly included plants found in Bhutan; in 2000, these were separated into a new species, Roscoea bhutanica. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. tibetica, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. R. tibetica is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. In 2020, it was proposed that R. tibetica be split again.
Some Roscoea species and cultivars are grown in rock gardens. They generally require a relatively sunny position with moisture-retaining but well-drained soil. As they do not appear above ground until late spring or even early summer, they escape frost damage in regions where subzero temperatures occur. Plants grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as R. tibetica produced small dark purple flowers, one at a time, from early June to July. The plants were noted as being variable (it is not clear whether any were actually what is now R. bhutanica).
For propagation, see Roscoea: Cultivation.
Roscoea tibetica is native to mountains in China north-east of the Brahmaputra River, in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan. It is found in pine forests, scrub and alpine meadows, at heights of 2,400–3,800 m.
Roscoea alpina · Roscoea auriculata · Roscoea australis · Roscoea bhutanica · Roscoea brandisii · Roscoea cangshanensis · Roscoea capitata · Roscoea cautleoides · Roscoea debilis · Roscoea forrestii · Roscoea ganeshensis · Roscoea humeana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Roscoea tibetica 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
