| Hellenia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hellenia speciosa (as "Costus speciosus") | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Costaceae |
| Genus: | Hellenia Retz. 1791 not Willd. 1797 (syn of Alpinia in Zingiberaceae) |
| Synonyms12 | |
| |
Hellenia is a genus of plants in the Costaceae described as a genus with this name in 1791.425 It is native to Southeast Asia, southern China, the Indian subcontinent, New Guinea, and Queensland.1 The type species was "H. grandiflora" Retz., which is a synonym of Hellenia speciosa.
Species
Plants of the World Online6 currently includes the following (with some botanists7 preferring to retain the genus Cheilocostus):
- Hellenia deliniana Juan Chen, L.Y.Zeng & N.H.Xia
- Hellenia lacera (Gagnep.) Govaerts
- Hellenia meghalayensis Ram.Kumar, Sushil K.Singh & B.K.Sinha
- Hellenia oblonga (S.Q.Tong) Juan Chen, L.Y.Zeng & N.H.Xia
- Hellenia paramjitii Ram.Kumar, Sushil K.Singh & S.Sharma
- Hellenia sopuensis (Maas & H.Maas) Govaerts
- Hellenia speciosa (J.Koenig) S.R.Dutta (synonym Cheilocostus speciosus) – China, Indian Subcontinent, Andaman & Nicobar, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Queensland; naturalized in Mauritius, Réunion, Hawaii, Central America, West Indies
- Hellenia viridis (S.Q.Tong) Juan Chen, L.Y.Zeng & N.H.Xia
Formerly included
now in other genera: Alpinia, Hornstedtia, Parahellenia, Plagiostachys1
- H. abnormis – Alpinia chinensis
- H. alba – Alpinia galanga
- H. allughas – Alpinia nigra
- H. aquatica – Alpinia aquatica
- H. arctiflora – Alpinia arctiflora
- H. borneensis (A.D.Poulsen) Govaerts – Parahellenia borneensis (A.D.Poulsen) N.H.Xia, Juan Chen & S.Jin Zeng
- H. bracteata – Alpinia ludwigiana
- H. caerulea – Alpinia caerulea
- H. chinensis – Alpinia chinensis
- H. globosa (Blume) S.R.Dutta – Parahellenia globosa (Blume) N.H.Xia, Juan Chen & S.Jin Zeng
- H. gracilis – Alpinia elegans
- H. melanocarpa – Alpinia aquatica
- H. parviflora – Plagiostachys parviflora
- H. pubiflora – Alpinia pubiflora
- H. rubra – Hornstedtia rubra
- H. rufa – Alpinia rufa
- H. scabra – Alpinia scabra
References
References
- Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- Tropicos, Hellenia Retz.
- Tropicos, search for Banksia
- Retzius, Anders Jahan. 1791. Observationes Botanicae 6: 18
- Specht, C. D. & D. W. Stevenson. 2006. A new phylogeny-based generic classification of Costaceae (Zingiberales). Taxon 55(1): 153–163
- "Hellenia Retz". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- Leong-Škorničková J, Šída O (2016) Proposal to conserve the name Cheilocostus against Hellenia and Tsiana (Costaceae). Taxon (2482) 65: 1426–1427.