Indonesian Wax Ginger or Pineapple Ginger (Tapeinochilos ananassae)
– Like other ginger species growing in Hawaii, this plant was
introduced for its ornamental attributes: a large, showy inflorescence
and beautiful foliage. Its foliage consists of thick, jointed
bamboo-like stems that grow directly from numerous rhizomes. The long,
smooth, lance-shaped leaves are arranged on the stem in an
inward-curving spiral typical of this species; the leaves radiate
outward from the spiral. The small yellow flowers (which function as
attractors to pollinating insects and birds) are aggregated in a large
(10-30 cm long), bright-red pineapple-shaped terminal spike consisting
of what appear to be waxy bright red flower petals, but are actually
bracts (modified leaves that enclose the actual flower). To reach its
full height (about 3 m), this species requires very high humidity. It
prefers the full shade and moist, fertile, well-drained soils of the
rain forest. Unlike many other tropical ginger species, this plant
possesses no aromatic essential oils.
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