I love this flower when it’s in its full bloom. I always see this each time I go home. Can anyone tell me the exact name of this flower, please? Some say that this is Indonesia’s national flower — it’s yet to be confirmed — but this flower is very common and mostly thrives in the tropical Southeast Asia. They call it “Dala” in Thai. Browsing the web gives me a hint that this could be one kind of the many different species of ginger flowers. Okay, this could be a “Torch Ginger Flower” or a “Torch Lily” then! The sight of this very lovely thing just makes me feel a little subservient…to anything (giggles)! I’m loving it though! 
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August 11th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
The exact scientific name of the Torch Ginger Lily is - Etlingera elatior (Jack) R.M.Smith. It is native to Indonesia and distributed throughout the Southeast Asia. This plant belongs to the family Zingiberaceae, the Ginger Family, which is economically important as the source of ginger root used as a flavoring extract and as a condiment. It is perennial herb with creeping rhizomes.
Though the Torch Ginger buds are used for cooking local cuisine as well as making a vegetable dish in the countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, it is only cultivated for ornamental purpose here in Burma.
The outstanding and peculiar feature of Torch Ginger Lily is due to the cluster of flowers subtended by conspicuous bracts, which are spirally arranged and closely overlapped, thus giving the inflorescence a cone like appearance. As the bracts are stiff, waxy and coloured, the Torch Ginger Lily is much impressed and fascinated.While it is called Plastic Flower in Burma, it is well known as the Philippine Waxflower in Philippines. In Burma, only (6) species of Etlingera are found and recorded.
I suggest that the Torch Ginger Lily’s vivid red inflorescence and deep green leaf -sheath of tall aerial shoots are very useful in landscaping scheme by planting them adjacent to the swimming pool for making a partition or vegetation walling or decorative hedge. By and large, I love the Torch Ginger Lily too!