Hedychium chrysoleucum
15th September 2005
Hedychium chrysoleucum (or Hedychium coronarium var chrysoleucum) is one of the most reliable
of the evergreen Hedychium species. White and lemon flowers with salmon pink columns are produced
during august, in broad heads.
Native to north east India, I have obtained a number of plants from different sources, without detecting
much in the way of variability.
The name is not currently accepted, but for many years rhizomes have been exported from India under this name and sold through bulb merchants. These plants are now
being distributed under a number of names - 'Devon Cream' is the latest, but 'Tresco 1' and 'Hardy Exotics 1' are all cut from the same cloth.
22nd September 2006
14th September 2007
26th September 2008
29th August 2009
2nd October 2011
The currently accepted view is that these plants represent hybrids between H.coronarium and H.gardnerianum,
and it seems a reasonable enough hypothesis but I still find it difficult to understand why there is so much of it in
cultivation (probably more than both parents put together) and why it comes from so many sources with so many different names
yet no-one ever seems to have made the hybrid.
27th October 2016