Meistera dallachyi, commonly known as green ginger, is a plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia. It is a rhizomatous herb, that is, the stem grows horizontally underground and only the leaves appear above ground. The leaf sheaths (the "stems") may be up to 4 m (13 ft) long with a number of long narrow leaves on either side, each up to about 50 cm (20 in) long by 9 cm (3.5 in) wide.[4][5]
The flowers are produced at ground level on a spearate stalk to the leaves. The flowers have three white or cream petals and a labellum up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long. The fruit is a yellow or green, three-valved, spiky capsule about 45 mm (1.8 in) long by 30 mm (1.2 in) wide, containing a number of brown or black seeds.[4][5]
Taxonomy
This species was first described in 1873 as Amomum dallachyi by Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller,[6] but by 2002 it was known that the genus Amomum was paraphyletic.[7]: 7 A review of the genus published in 2018 resulted in this species being transferred to the genus Meistera.[7]
Distribution and habitat
It grows in rainforest, particularly where there are breaks in the canopy such as along roads and creeks. It occurs from Kutini-Payamu National Park in the northern part of Cape York, south to about Mission Beach. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about 400 m (1,300 ft).[4][5]
