Curcuma australasica Hook.F.

An evergreen ginger family herb. It re-grows each year from the underground fleshy rootstock. It grows to 0.5 m tall and spreads to 0.5 m wide. The stems are erect and flowering. The leaves are light green and large and like a spade. They are 25-70 cm long by 9-15 cm wide. They point upwards and are pleated and narrow towards the base. The leaves are thin textured. The stalk is fleshy and 20 cm long. The flowers are yellow with large bright pink bracts. They occur in clusters of 3-5 in the base of each bract. The lower flowers are green and fertile while the upper ones are pink and sterile. These flowers are in spikes 12-15 cm long. The fruit is a thin walled 3 celled capsule. The seeds are enclosed in papery bracts.

A tropical plant. It prefers well drained soil in a protected heavily shaded position. They can grow in the sun. It needs a wet summer and a dry winter. It is drought and frost tender. It grows naturally in sandstone country on the fringe of monsoon forests near streams. It needs an alkaline pH. In the Cairns Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 8-12. Coffs Harbour Botanical Gardens.

Sometimes grown as an ornamental and for its flowers.

Plants are grown by division of the clump. They can also be grown from seed.