''Hellenia'' is a genus of plants in the

Costaceae Costaceae, known as the ''Costus'' family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-para ...

described as a genus with this name in 1791.Tropicos, Hellenia Retz.
/ref> It is native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

was "''H. grandiflora''" Retz., which is a synonym of '' Hellenia speciosa''.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

''Plants of the World Online: ''Hellenia'' (retrieved 23 September 2020)
/ref> currently includes the following (with some botanistsLeong-Škorničková J, Šída O (2016) Proposal to conserve the name ''Cheilocostus'' against ''Hellenia'' and '' Tsiana'' (Costaceae). ''Taxon'' (2482) 65: 1426-1427. preferring to retain the genus ''

Cheilocostus ''Cheilocostus'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Costaceae, with the type species '' C. speciosus''. Databases are currently (September 2020) inconsistent, with some botanists preferring to place the five species in the genus '' Hell ...

''): * '' Hellenia borneensis'' (A.D.Poulsen) Govaerts * '' Hellenia globosa'' (Blume) S.R.Dutta - Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java * '' Hellenia lacera'' (Gagnep.) Govaerts * '' Hellenia sopuensis'' (Maas & H.Maas) Govaerts * '' Hellenia speciosa'' (J.Koenig) S.R.Dutta (synonym ''

Cheilocostus speciosus ''Cheilocostus speciosus'', or crêpe ginger, is a species of flowering plant in the family Costaceae. Some botanists have now revived the synonym '' Hellenia speciosa'' for this species. It is native to southeast Asia and surrounding regions ...

'') - China, Indian Subcontinent, Andaman & Nicobar, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Queensland; naturalized in Mauritius, Réunion, Hawaii, Central America, West Indies ; formerly included now in other genera: '' Alpinia

Hornstedtia ''Hornstedtia'' is a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, southern China, New Guinea, Melanesia and Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_c ...

Plagiostachys''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20720124 Costaceae Zingiberales genera Taxa named by Anders Jahan Retzius