.

Hedychium spicatum P Bon 57188 images

Hedychium spicatum P. Bon. 57188 was collected as seed by Paul Bonavia on the Tibet-Burma border. When he collected it, Mr Bonavia was assured by his Chinese guide that it was Hedychium yunnanense and it was at first distributed under that name. However, the plant is not Hedychium yunnanense but instead a splendid form of Hedychium spicatum. This plant is incorrectly listed in the 2006-2007 RHS Plant Finder as PB 57188 which wrongly indicates the plant was collected by Peter Bird and not Paul Bonavia (I have also been told that the plant was collected by Pete Boardman!).

Vegetatively, P. Bon. 57188 is a strong growing and robust plant to 2m or more with the largest leaves of any hardy Hedychium I have seen, fully 18 cm broad and 56 cm long - "Hedychium maximum" leaves are longer but not nearly as broad. The prominent ligules are dark red and the colour is continued in a stripe down the sides of the clasping petiole making P. Bon. 57188 a very striking foliage plant indeed.

The flowers are ivory-white turning yellow on maturity and strongly marked orange at the base of the labellum. The labellum lobes are rather small and narrow compared to most forms of Hedychium spicatum so that the stamen tends to project slightly beyond the flower. This is an unusual character for Hedychium spicatum but the stamen is bent across the labellum as is typical for the species. The true petals covering the developing flower are also orange which adds to the overall colour effect of the inflorescence. So although the flowers are individually small, they are more colourful than is typical for Hedychium spicatum and borne in substantial spikes.

Hedychium spicatum P. Bon. 57188 is a very exciting "new" Hedychium for the garden. It seems to be quite hardy with us in Somerset and with Paul Bonavia in his Norfolk garden.

home    back     top

last updated 01/10/2008