Hellenia

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)
Synonyms[1][2]
Banksea J.Koenig 1783, illegitimate parahomonym, not Banksia J.R Forster & J. G. A. Forster 1775 (Thymelaeaceae) nor Banksia L. f. 1782 (Proteaceae) nor Banksia Bruce 1790 (Rosaceae) nor Banksia Dombey ex DC. 1828 (Lythraceae)[2][3] Tsiana J.F.Gmel. Planera Giseke 1792, illegitimate homonym not J.F. Gmel. 1791 (Ulmaceae) Cheilocostus C.D.Specht Pyxa Noronha

Hellenia is a genus of plants in the Costaceae described as a genus with this name in 1791.^[4][2][5] 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 Online^[6] currently includes the following (with some botanists^[7] preferring to retain the genus Cheilocostus):

• Hellenia borneensis (A.D.Poulsen) Govaerts
• Hellenia globosa (Blume) S.R.Dutta - Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java
• Hellenia lacera (Gagnep.) Govaerts
• 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

formerly included^[1]

now in other genera: Alpinia Hornstedtia Plagiostachys

• H. abnormis - Alpinia chinensis
• H. alba - Alpinia galanga
• H. allughas - Alpinia nigra
• H. aquatica - Alpinia aquatica
• H. arctiflora - Alpinia arctiflora
• H. bracteata - Alpinia ludwigiana
• H. caerulea - Alpinia caerulea
• H. chinensis - Alpinia chinensis
• 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

1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. Tropicos, Hellenia Retz.
3. Tropicos, search for Banksia
4. Retzius, Anders Jahan. 1791. Observationes Botanicae 6: 18
5. Specht, C. D. & D. W. Stevenson. 2006. A new phylogeny-based generic classification of Costaceae (Zingiberales). Taxon 55(1): 153–163
6. Plants of the World Online: Hellenia (retrieved 23 September 2020)
7. Leong-Škorničková J, Šída O (2016) Proposal to conserve the name Cheilocostus against Hellenia and Tsiana (Costaceae). Taxon (2482) 65: 1426-1427.