Butterfly-lily

Leaf blades oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 28--48 ´ 4--7 cm. Inflorescences erect, 15--19 ´ 12--17 cm; bracts of main axis green; proximal bracts ovate, concave, 4--5.5 ´ 2--4.5 cm, apex obtuse or apiculate; distal bracts lance-oblong or ovate, 4--6 ´ 1--2.5 cm, apex rounded or apiculate. Flowers: perianth and staminodes white.

Flowering summer--fall (Jun--Oct). Swamps, shores of lakes and streams; 0--50 m; introduced; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; Australia; native, Asia; Australia.

The flowers of Hedychium coronarium are very fragrant. Naturalized populations have been reported several times from southern Louisiana, but the specimens I have seen are sterile and cannot be identified with certainty. There is also an old report from near Brunswick, Georgia (J. K. Small 1933, unpublished ms.), but I have seen no specimens from the state.