Lisa, I'm not sure what you mean about having a free style. Virtually every group of plants have styles distinct from the stamens. Orchids don't, but then they have a special term for the structures involved. In fact, gingers come about as close to a combined stamen/style as it gets without them actually being fused. Is what you are talking about that the style often forms a bowstring of sorts? It isn't supposed to do that. In cultivation it happens all the time but in the wild it is much more rare. More often the style is completely included in the groove of the filament. Yes, those pictures are of G. patens. I used to have a bunch of evergreens but the people in the greenhouse where I kept them didn't understand that and let them dry out with all the other Globbas one winter. Unfortunately it was too late before I figured out what was happening. I think all the flowers are hermaphrodites. My guess is that only the species in section Nudae have unisexual flowers. I'm surprised you don't have G. atrosanguinea. It is fairly commonly grown and has the reddest bracts of any Globba. Much more potential there. G. corneri is nice, I've only seen pictures though. Would love to get my hands on it someday. G. albobracteata is another white bracted evergreen species. But it has a much longer (almost stretched out looking) inflorescence. G. unifolia has red-orange bracts I believe (in the most common form, I have a all green form). G. curtissii doesn't have nice bracts to speak of but has a large many flowered inflorescence. It might be worth working with to try and cross with some of the compact evergreens with more color. Over time you might get lucky and get a large infl. with colorful bracts in an evergreen species. I just remembered G. fragilis. As the name suggests it is pretty small and delicate. But it is probably my favorite of the evergreen species. I only have one picture of it and it isn't that good. But the leaves have two white streaks on the leaves (one on either side of the midrib) and the lower surface is dark red-purple. The bracts are a distinctive firery yellow-orange color. I may send you the picture I have as you can see all these traits, even if you have to squint to make some of them out! 100 messages on this thread. Pretty good...even if two entirely different subjects have been discussed! -Kyle

I would try sending the photos to www.gingersrus.com David Skinner has a great knowledge of these gingers. Good Luck

The cupped ligules is a characteristic of the form of Costus vinosus that is common in horticulture, but it is not necessarily a character that distinguishes the species. There might be forms of this species that do not have cupped ligules. The same is true of Costus productus, which has forms with cupped ligules (in horticulture they are called 'Emerald Chalice' and 'Maroon Chalice') and the more common form without cupped ligules (usually sold under the wrong name of Costus curvibracteatus). It is impossible to tell for certain without seeing flowers, but your plant looks very much like Costus laevis. In the third picture from the top, the young folige near the ground has the characteristic silvery sheen of Costus laevis along the midrib. I went to the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica this summer to study the Costus there, and this species was by far the most common, so I saw lots of it and can recognize it pretty well from the foliage. The coloration varies with maturity of the leaves and depending on the shade condition. Suggest you check and compare the photos of Costus laevis on my website against your plant. By the way, I have just finished updating my website with over a thousand new photos and have added a new search engine to search the images. Here is a link that might be useful: All About Gingers

Hi, I purchased several bare root Curcuma Scarlet Fever plants (sold as C. 'Red Giant') last fall and received little growing info with them so I potted them and kept them on my visqueen-enclosed patio for the winter. Despite the freeze protection their leaves still died back, so I wasn't sure if this was natural for the plant (like the beautiful big ginger I have in the ground, the name of which I know only as "Hidden Ginger Lily") or if they were all dying. I put the leafless pots outside along the north wall of the house after the last frost and all three pots now have beautiful, healthy new deep red stalks with large green leaves. YAY! A special thank you goes to birdlady liz for the very helpful info on cultivation of these beautiful plants; now I know where to plant them and how to care for them in the ground next winter. Can anyone tell me if the C. Scarlet Fever blooms, and if so, a little about the blossoms? Thanks so much for your help. Happy gardening, y'all! Patricia