Roscoea

suffer and produce few flowers. The shading was used in the trial to represent the conditions the plants
should be grown in, as there was not a suitable wooded site that could be used for the trial. The plants
however, can survive heat stress, and in July 2010 were surviving temperatures exceeding 30 o C.
Roscoea are often grown in a woodland setting, but are also happy in partial sun, or even full sun
in cooler parts of the country. They like plenty of water when growing, but keep them drier during
their winter dormancy to prevent them rotting. You can also grow them successfully in containers.
Additional Information:
Roscoea purpurea f. rubra versus „Red Gurkha‟:
purpurea f. rubra
Until 1994, the known colour range of Roscoea
flowers included whites, purples, pinks and
yellows. Then, an expedition to the Ganesh
Himal in central Nepal made an exciting
discovery – a form of Roscoea purpurea with
bright red flowers. In their native Nepal they are
known as rasagari and the rhizomes are used as
a tonic. The name „Red Gurkha‟ was originally
given to these plants but the variability of plants
under this name, particularly in the colour of the
leaf sheath, has led the RHS Advisory
Committee on Nomenclature and Taxonomy
(ACONAT) concluded that it is best treated as a
synonym of “f. rubra”.
As Roscoea are increasing in popularity, new cultivars are being introduced onto the market, as
more clones and species are becoming increasingly readily available in the trade. The popularity of
R. purpurea f. rubra is already providing exciting new breeding opportunities, many of which were
too recently introduced to be included in the trial. One such example is R. „Royal Purple‟. An
example which was in the trial was R. „Raspberry Ripple‟, a hybrid of R. cautleyoides × R.
purpurea f. rubra.
Picture: Two hybrids with R. „purpurea f.
rubra in its parentage. Left: R. „Raspberry
Ripple‟. Right: R. „Royal Purple‟ (picture
courteous of P. Erskine).
Roscoea Trial No. 1436 15