Alpinia caerulea
Alpinia caerulea

This plant was assessed as Lower Risk in our Research Portal. You can conduct your own research on this or other plants by creating a free login to the portal.

Lower Risk
Spread long distances by birds

Alpinia caerulea (Native Ginger, Red back ginger; Lemon-scented Ginger; Blue Ginger)

(Hellenia caerulea)

This perennial herb is native to Queensland, New South Wales and Papua New Guinea. It produces white inflorescences 10-30cm long, and blue globose fruits that contain black seeds. The plant also produces rhizomes and can therefore reproduce vegetatively. The new leaves and berries are edible. Birds can potentially disperse the fruits. It is not known how long it has been in the plant trade for, but it has not become naturalised outside its native range anywhere in Australia or the world.