Spiked Spiralflag ( Costus spicatus) is commonly misidentified as this plant, but Spiked Spiralflag has larger flowers with a much larger, ruffled, yellow labellum, red-green floral bracts, and leaves with hair along the upper midrib. The showy inflorescences make long lasting cut flowers in tropical flower arrangements. The plants spread by rhizomes, plantlets, or stem cuttings. Here in Hawaii, Indian Head Ginger grows in sunny to shady gardens with moist soil. The cane-like stems emerge from underground rhizomes and are erect to leaning. The leaves are glossy, dark green, hairless, spirally arranged, drooping, and elliptic to egg-shaped. Common Name: Scarlet Spiral Flag, Red Button Ginger Native Habitat, Terrestrial (Primary Rainforest, Secondary Rainforest) Growth Form, It is a perennial. Young plantlets emerge from the base of the old inflorescences and can take root if they touch the ground. The individual flowers remain almost closed and have a barely revealed yellow labellum (lower lip petal). The more conspicuous floral bracts are dark red.ĭescription: The tubular, orange to red-orange flowers emerge one at a time from between shiny, red, tightly overlapping floral bracts on round-tipped, egg-shaped to cylindrical inflorescences at the stem tips. This mostly cultivated but also locally naturalized ornamental garden plant is native to Central and South America.įlower Color: Reddish orange and yellow. Hawaii Native Status: Introduced, Cultivated.

Common Names: Indian Head Ginger, Indianhead Ginger, Red Cane, Scarlet Spiral Flag

Ginger red button plant