Hedihijum

White ginger lily, Hedychium coronarium, is a perennial herb of the ginger family. Hedychium comprises 40-50 species and is primarily a Himalayan genus. It is an upright perennial that may reach 1-3 m in height, with long pointed leaves and heavily scented white flowers with yellow bases.

It is native to the Eastern Himalayas of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, through northernmost Myanmar and Thailand and southern China to Taiwan in the East. In its native environment flowering occurs between August and December. The flowers are pollinated by moths and open at night.

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Chemistry

The essential oil of the fresh flowers is quite different from that of the leaves and rhizomes. It contains about 300 compounds, of which the most important are linalool, (E)-isoeugenol, indole and methyl benzoate. Minor components include α-pinene, sabinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene and 1,8-cineole.

The fragrance of the fresh flower mainly results from volatile benzenoids and monoterpenes, like methyl benzoate, linalool and (E)-β-ocimene. In Japan the methyl benzoate level was found to reach a maximum at night. Methyl salicylate is a minor constituent of the floral scent.

Two enzymes, HcBSMT1 and HcBSMT2, catalyze the methylation of benzoic acid and salicylic acid to form methyl benzoate and methyl salicylate. HcBSMT2 accounts for the majority of floral methyl benzoate production in the plant.

The rhizome oil from French Polynesia contains β-pinene (25%) and 1,8-cineole (40%) as major constituents. In specimens from the Amazon, the most abundant constituent of the rhizome and root oils was 1,8-cineole (rhizome: 35.0-66.1%; root: 19.6-20.8%). Leaf blade oil from the same specimens was rich in β-pinene (31.6%) and (E)-caryophyllene (31.6%).

Cultivation

It has become a popular landscape plant or cut flowers in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide because of its distinct and perfumed flower. It is evergreen in warmer climates, but deciduous in mild winter temperate regions of North America and Europe. The flower buds and young flowers are edible.

Beyond its native range, it may be invasive in shallow water systems, along streams and in waterlogged areas.