Kaempferia rotunda (Peacock Ginger) in 90 mm Bottomless Pot

Family: Zingiberaceae (includes gingers, galangals, and turnerics)
Genus: Kaempferia (includes Thai black ginger)

Botanical/Binomial Name: Kaempferia rotunda
Meaning of Name:
Kaempferia, after Engelbert Kaempfer (1651–1716), a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer who lived in Japan and east Asia from 1689-1693, writing of their native plants whilst there; and
rotunda, from Latin rotunda (feminine singular of rotundus, ‘round, spherical’): a reference to the shape of the tubers

Common Names: Peacock Ginger, Indian Crocus, Round-rooted Galangale

Botanical Characteristics: Herbaceous | Perennial | Rhizomatous | Frost tender
Propagation: Division of rhizomes

Item Description:
These peacock ginger plants are 300-400 mm tall and the dimensions of the bottomless pot are 90 mm square × 150 mm deep — I love these pots as the square shape and bottomless design produces beautifully straight and deep roots with no spiralling whatsoever. (I sell these brand-new if interested.)

I reuse and recycle pots whenever possible, and the pots the plants come in may show signs of this, but are otherwise in great condition.

The pots sit in very shallow water (when not being photographed!), which is why roots are seen coming through the bottoms in the first photo.

The plant you will receive may not be the one in the photo, but will be very similar. I may remove the pot and/or trim the leaves when posting if that aids packing and getting postage down for you.

Plant Description:
This member of the ginger family is both a medicinal plant as well as a striking ornamental.

Peacock ginger is named for the pattern on the leaves, reminiscent of a peacock’s fanned-out tail, as seen in the fourth photo. The deep red-brown undersides of the leaves add even more beauty to this already magnificent species.

The flower and leaf are never seen together, but the all-over-the-place weather the past few years seems to trigger the highly irregular appearance of both at once these days. Also unusual is that the flowers last about a week instead of the more typical two or three days.

Growing Information:
Kaempferia rotunda happily grows in a pot or in the ground, and will absolutely thrive in any permanently cool, shady spot as the last three photos show.

I only grow this exquisite plant long-term in 9 L Air-Pot containers, in which all gingers do amazingly well. The foliage and Air-Pot wall complement each other for an added aesthetic!

Like all members of the ginger family, K. rotunda prefers a well-draining soil rich in organic matter. This is another reason gingers in general do so well in Air-Pot containers, as they naturally create a rich aerobic environment which doesn’t enable water to accumulate.

Rhizomes reshoot around November. Typically the flowers appear first for a few days, then die to be followed by the leaves, but of late this hasn’t been the case and both are just as likely to appear together as not, at least here in my climate.