HEDYCHIUM MAXIMUM. 
MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
SECT. Il. SCITAMINER. 
Gxy. Cuar.—Anther double, embracing the style; filament attached at the apex to the back of the anther ; 
capsule three-celled; seeds numerous, arilled. 
Srec. Cuar.—Spike capitate, imbricate; filament shorter than the lip; lip very broad, bilobate, outer bractes 
ciliate ; leaves sessile, sheathing, broad-lanceolate, smooth above and downy beneath. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Roots tuberous, fleshy, running horizontally; stems strong, erect, herbaceous, 10-12 feet high; leaves 
alternate, sessile, broad-lanceolate, smooth on the upper side and downy below; spike terminal, erect, compactly 
imbricated ; common bractes broad, ovate, obtuse, and ciliated towards the apex; inner bractes ovate, membranous, 
rufescent ; calyx superior, of one leaf, downy, cylindrical at the base, but inflated and opening upwards, and 
inclosing the tube of the corolla about one-third of its length; outer limb of the corolla of three linear-lanceolate 
segments, equal, reflexed; inner limb of three segments, the two lateral ones broad, ovate, equal; lip very broad, 
notched at the apex, crenate or undulate; faux hairy; filament shorter than the lip, slightly tinged with pink ; 
anther broad, two-lobed ; style from the germen to the tip of the anther about six inches long; stigma funnel- 
shaped, compressed, ciliate; germen with two short blunt processes supporting the style, downy; capsule three- 
celled ; seeds many, arilled. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
On a first view, this noble plant might be mistaken for a well-grown specimen of Hedychium coronarium, but 
will be found, on examination, to differ so materially as to prevent our considering it as even a variety of that 
species; although it may possibly be the plant referred to by Dr. Roxgureu, in Flora Indica, vol. I. p. 10, as a 
variety found in some of the interior provinces. Besides its being a much larger growing plant, it is readily 
distinguished by its large ovate and ciliated bractes, its broader leaves, and, frequently, by a very singular lobe, 
or tongue, projecting from the centre of the lateral segments of the corolla, but not constantly found; to this it may 
be added, that in Maximum the germen, faux, and calyx, are downy; whilst in Coronarium these parts are all smooth. 
A young plant of this species, about two feet high, was sent by Messrs. Loppicrs, of Hackney, on the 12th 
May, 1822, to the Botanic Garden, in Liverpool; where, by the 28th of August following, it had put out new 
stems from the root, and measured five inches in circumference near the base, and ten feet high, with leaves two 
feet long and eight inches broad; a rapidity of growth perhaps scarcely exceeded in its native climate. 
REFERENCES. 
{. Outer bracte. 
2, Inner bracte. 
3. The intire flower, showing the occasional lingulate process from the centre of the lateral 
lobe of the corolla. 
4. Germen and inflated calyx. 
5. Germen, with its processes, style, and stigma. 
