Roscoea alpina

Description:

Description of the flower: there is a tube-shaped outer calyx, 4–5 cm long with a two-lobed apex. Next the three petals (the corolla) form a tube which is longer than the calyx and terminates in three lobes, an upright more-or-less circular central lobe, about 1.5 cm in diameter (which forms a hood over the rest of the flower), and two more elongated side lobes. Inside the petals are structures formed from four sterile stamens (staminodes): two lateral staminodes form what appear to be upright petals, smaller than the corolla lobes; two central staminodes are fused to form a lip or labellum, about 1.5 cm long, which is divided at the end into two lobes.

Habitat:

A perennial herbaceous plant native to the Himalayas, from Kashmir to Burma. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. alpina, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.

Notes:

Is in the botanical garden of our department.