In Amboina, Indonesia the native name for the plant is galoba.
Rhizomatous herbs. Leafy shoots thin but with many blades. Flower cluster terminal, often open and curled, the flowers within the bracts sometimes replaced by bulbils. Corolla tube narrow, lobes slightly unequal. Lip united with the filament in a short tube above the lateral petal-like sterile stamens. Filament long, thin, curved. Anther without a crest. Ovary 1 chambered. Fruit a small capsule.
Warm to tropical climate plants sometimes grown as pot plants for the leafy shoots and interesting flowers.
Cuttings or seed.
Flower clusters generally on a leafy shoot; flowers often replaced by bulbils; staminal filament arching over; anther with lateral appendages.
About 70 species from the eastern Himalaya to Malaysia, Indonesia and New Guinea. 1 species in Australia.
Source: (2005). Zingiberaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
