Kolowratia eruciformis 'Red Bamboo Ginger'

This ginger plant (Zingiberaceae) from Thailand is better known as "Red Bamboo Ginger" or by the (incorrect) scientific name Alpinia luteocarpa. A rather recent paper identifies this widely distributed and popular plant in Thailand as Kolowratia eruciformis.

It is a small and very vigorous ginger plant with strikingly silvery, narrow leaves with bright red undersides. It grows to about 40 to 60 cm tall (in cultivation) but can apparently grow much larger in nature. Overall, the plant's slender habit is reminiscent of bamboo, hence its common name.

In Southeast Asia, this plant is popular both as a potted plant and a garden plant, as it is very robust and fast-growing in a tropical climate. Even in our greenhouse, it has proven to be a very robust and grateful plant. It can also be kept as a houseplant, but it grows comparatively slowly there. However, it looks very different from anything else currently available as a "common" houseplant. A real novelty!

You will receive a strong, multi-stemmed plant in a 9 cm pot. It should be repotted, as the rhizome already completely fills the pot!