Etlingera corneri

The Ginger Collector’s Holy Grail

If you collect gingers seriously, you already know about Etlingera corneri. If you don’t know it yet, consider this your introduction to one of the most extraordinary flowering plants in the entire Zingiberaceae family — and one of the rarest you are likely to find offered in Australia.

The Flower

The name Rose of Siam is not hyperbole. The inflorescence emerges from the base of the plant in the manner of all etlingeras — low, dramatic, entirely unexpected — and what it produces is a riotous crimson display that stops every visitor to the garden cold. The bracts are waxy, deep red and overlapping, built into a structure that looks for all the world like an enormous, extravagant rose in the most saturated shade of crimson imaginable. They are long-lasting, which is fortunate, because this is a flower worth sitting with. The true flowers appear later between the bracts — small, fleeting and almost incidental beside the magnificent structure that surrounds them.

Spring and summer bring the main display, from a plant that reaches around two metres — compact enough for a sheltered garden bed or a large container, substantial enough to command genuine presence.

What It Needs — Please Read

Etlingera corneri is native to the rainforests of Malaysia and it has not forgotten where it came from. It thrives in tropical and warm subtropical conditions with the combination of heat, humidity and consistent moisture it was born into — part shade with bright filtered light suits it best, replicating the dappled conditions of its forest home. It can be particular about its requirements, and we say this honestly rather than as a deterrent: a collector who understands what this plant needs and provides it will be rewarded with something genuinely extraordinary. A gardener expecting a carefree performer may find it less accommodating.

It propagates slowly and with difficulty, which is why our stock is always limited and why, when it appears on the list, it tends not to stay there long.

It likes similar conditions to torch gingers but with more sun protection