(Also known as Wild Ginger)
Hedychium gardnerianum
Family: Zingiberaceae
Type of weed: With underground regrowth structures
Flower colour(s): Yellow
Priority Weed Local Priority Weed. (See more weeds of the Local Priority Weed class.)
Flowering Months: January, February, March, April, May, December
Description
Ginger Lily is a large herb to 2.5 m high.
It has large, glossy yellow greenish leaves, alternately arranged along the stems with a long base that sheaths the stems.
Mostly bright yellow, showy flowers are on large spike like clusters (15–45 cm long and 15–20 cm wide) at the tips of the stems, summer to autumn.
The fruit is a thin walled capsule with three compartments. It splits open when mature to reveal bright orange inner surfaces. The relatively large brown seeds have a bright red fleshy covering.
Dispersal
Ginger Lily reproduces by seed and also via its creeping underground stems (rhizomes).
The seeds are dispersed by birds and other animals that are attracted to their bright colours. Seeds and segments of its creeping underground stems are also spread by water and in dumped garden waste.
Impact on bushland
Ginger Lily grows densely, smothering and displacing native groundcover vegetation. These dense stands can prevent the regeneration of trees and shrubs, significantly modify the habitat available to native animals, and eventually threaten the integrity of native ecosystems.
Distribution
Lower Blue Mountains. Up to Lawson, in moist, shady habitats.
Alternative planting
Native plants
- Crimson Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrons)
- Grevilleas (Grevillea spp.)
- Tick Bush (Kunzea ambigua)
Council provides a tool, on its Mountain Landscapes website, to help you choose native alternative plantings. Choose your village, soil, vegetation community and the purpose of your planting, and the tool will give you suggestions.
There are native nurseries in several Blue Mountains villages, including Glenbrook, Lawson and Katoomba. Please also ask at your favourite local nursery.
Control
- Manually remove bulbs, corms and tubers
- Spray
- Cut and paint crown
Manual control
Manual removal
Move leaf litter away from base of plant. Dig down next to the stem until the bulb or tuber is reached. Remove plant and carefully bag the bulb or tuber.
Chemical control
Note: Herbicides that may be used for this weed include Glyphosate, Metsulfuron methyl.
Spraying
Please consult the Herbicide page of this website to help you decide whether to spray, how to do it safely and more.
Extra considerations for weeds with underground reproductive structures
- Further digging may be required for plants with more than one tuber. Some bulbs may have small bulbils attached or present in the soil around them. These need to be removed. It may be quicker and more effective to dig weeds out.
- Learn and understand how the herbicide works. For bulb and corm species the most effective time is after flowering and before fruit has set.
Cut and Paint Crown
This treatment is specific to Blackberry.
Scrape back the earth around the base of each plant until the rhizome (from which the canes emerge) is exposed. Using a pair of secateurs or loppers, cut through the rhizome at its widest point and apply glyphosate immediately.
Specific control tips for this weed
Because the berries are spread by birds, treat plants before they fruit.
Remove the thick fleshy rhizome with a knife or mattock. Follow up is needed because the plant resprouts when disturbed.
Alternatively, cut an indentation in the rhizome and fill with herbicide.
For key points on these techniques:
Local Priority Weed
Control measures:
- The plant should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
- Plants under 4 metres in height should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
- The spread of this plant should be adequately contained to prevent spread impacting on priority assets. Weed notices will only be issued for these weeds under special circumstances.
