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]
BankseaJ.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] TsianaJ.F.Gmel. PlaneraGiseke 1792, illegitimate homonym not J.F. Gmel. 1791 (Ulmaceae) CheilocostusC.D.Specht PyxaNoronha

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 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, Plagiostachys ^[1]

• 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

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. "Hellenia Retz". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
7. Leong-Škorničková J, Šída O (2016) Proposal to conserve the name Cheilocostus against Hellenia and Tsiana (Costaceae). Taxon (2482) 65: 1426–1427.