Flower profile
Red ginger
Alpinia purpurata
Red ginger is a wildflower.
*iNaturalist research-grade observations, as of October 17, 2026.
On our lists for: Hawaii
Quick look
Alpinia purpurata, commonly referred to as red ginger, ostrich plume and pink cone ginger, is a ginger native to Maluku and the southwest Pacific islands. In typical ginger fashion, A. purpurata is a rhizomatous plant, spreading underground in a horizontal growth habit, sending feeder roots downwards into the substrate and sprouting leafy vertical stems from nodes located along the rhizome.
- It belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. iNaturalist
- USDA PLANTS describes it as an herb (forb) with a perennial life cycle. USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe lists it as not native to Hawaii. NatureServe
- iNaturalist has 746 research-grade sightings of it in Hawaii, ranking #59 among the 105 flowers on our Hawaii list. iNaturalist
Red ginger gift ideas
Handmade red ginger gifts from independent makers.
🌱 Sample spot. Handmade gift picks from independent shops will appear here once our shop partnership is approved. These cards are placeholders, not real products.
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Red ginger art print
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Red ginger greeting card
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Red ginger mug
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Red ginger earrings
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Red ginger embroidery pattern
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Red ginger sticker
When does it bloom?
Conservation status
- Federal (U.S. ESA)
- Not listed No U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in the USFWS ECOS database. USFWS ECOS
- NatureServe global
- GNR Not yet ranked worldwide. NatureServe
- Hawaii
- Not listed Not on Hawaii threatened and endangered plants (HAR 13-107; the state list follows the federal list), DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife. NatureServe: SNA, not applicable (usually because it isn't native there) in Hawaii. HAR 13-107
- Rare elsewhere
- No other U.S. state ranks it S1, S2, SH or SX.
Checked October 17, 2026. Rankings and lists can change, so follow the links for the latest.
Can you eat it?
None of the sources we checked (NC State Extension (no page for this plant), USDA PLANTS) say whether it's edible or poisonous for people.
It isn't on the ASPCA plant list.
🌿 Never eat a wild plant unless you're certain of its ID; this isn't medical advice. Worried about a person? Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Worried about a pet? Call your vet.
Where does it grow?
USDA PLANTS records red ginger in 1 states.
recorded by USDA PLANTS on our state lists not recorded
See the full list of states
Hawaii.
Hawaii counties with USDA records: Honolulu, Kauai.
More Hawaii flowers
Sources
- USDA, NRCS. PLANTS Database, profile ALPU4.
- iNaturalist, Alpinia purpurata: taxonomy, research-grade observation counts and “Flowering” annotations, retrieved October 17, 2026.
- Wikipedia, Alpinia purpurata (lead quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Hawaii: Hawaii threatened and endangered plants (HAR 13-107; the state list follows the federal list), DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
- Hawaii: Hawaii noxious weed list (HAR 4-68).
- USFWS, ECOS species database (ESA listing check), October 17, 2026.
- NatureServe Explorer, Alpinia purpurata (global and state ranks).
- Edibility and toxicity: no source found (marked "not well documented").
- Photo: Lindsey K. Wise via iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · resized.