| Etlingera fulgens | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Zingiberaceae |
| Genus: | Etlingera |
| Species: | E. fulgens |
| Binomial name | |
| Etlingera fulgens |
|
Etlingera fulgens is a species of herbaceous perennial plant of the Zingiberaceae family. Botanical synonyms include Hornstedtia fulgens, Nicolaia fulgens, Phaeomeria fulgens. This species occurs in southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia.[1] Due to its bright red flowers and young leaves, E. fulgens is gaining popularity as an ornamental plant in landscape gardens.
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E. fulgens can be recognised by its shiny undulate leaves that are dark green in colour.[1][2] When young, the underside leaves are bright red in colour, turning greenish on maturing. In older leaves, only the petiole and midrib are red.[2] Petioles are 1.5 to 2 cm in length. Rhizomes, 3 cm in diameter, occur just below the ground. The plant can grow up to 4 – 5 metres tall. Crushed leaf sheaths emit a pleasant sour fragrance similar to that of Etlingera elatior. Inflorescences are raised above the ground and infructescences are globular in shape.
Leaves of E. fulgens displayed stronger ferrous ion chelating ability than young leaves of Camellia sinensis.[3] Chlorogenic acid found in leaves of E. fulgens was higher in content than Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle), the commercial source.[4] Fruit and rhizome oils of E. fulgens are mainly aliphatic hydrocarbons with cyclododecane, dodecanol and cyclotetradecane as main constituents.[5] Oils of E. fulgens and E. elatior were very different in composition despite having very similar aroma. Oils of E. fulgens consist mainly of dodecyl acetate (21.6%), an ester, and pentadecanol (14.1%) and hexadecanol (3.60%), both long-chain alcohols.[4]