Nutritional Freshwater Life
90
Hedycium coronarium (J. Koenig)
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Common name: White ginger lily, ginger lily, white butterfly ginger lily, garland flower.
Distribution: Native to India; temperate
regions of North America and Europe;
Caribbean and tropical and subtropical
areas worldwide (FLORIDATA).
Habitat: Wetlands; moist places along
streams and on forest edges; rich soil
with adequate moisture.
Description: It is a tropical perennial.
Its green stalks grow from thick rhizomes to a height of 0.9–2.1 m. Leaves
are lance shaped and sharp pointed,
20–61 cm long and 5–12.7 cm wide, and
arranged in two neat ranks that run
the length of the stem. The stalks are
topped with 15.2–30.5 cm long clusters
of wonderfully fragrant white flowers
that look like butterflies. Rhizomes of
this species have edible and medicinal
values (FLORIDATA).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition of Shoot (% DM)
Fat
CHO a
Protein
2.0
10.0
4.63
a Carbohydrate.
Minerals (% DM)
P
N2
K
Na
0.92
0.92
0.06
0.02
Source: Data from Jain et al. (2011).