Erect herbaceous plant. Its leaves like banana, used to wrap things. About lm high. rhizome tuberous. Leaves basal, oblong or oblong lanceolate, 30 ~ 50cm long, l0 ~ 20cm wide, apical short and acuminate, base acute, both surfaces are glabrous; petiole is about 60cm long; leaf occipital is 3 ~ 7cm long, glabrous. Heads subglobose, ca. 5cm in diameter, sessile, arising from leaf sheaths; outermost bracts in 3 segments, 2-3cm long, obtuse and acuminate at the tip, purplish-red; inner fertile bracts oblong-ovate, acute at the tip, long-ciliate, fibrous posteriorly; 3 pairs of flowers in each bract; sepals linear, ca. 1cm long; corolla purple; outer staminodes obovate, light red, inner staminodes shorter and yellowish. Capsule pear-shaped, chestnut-colored, shiny, with 2-3 longitudinal rounded ribs, 1-1.2 cm long, with a persistent perianth tube about 2 mm high at the tip, containing 2-3 seeds. Flowering period is from May to July.

Plants of Shuusei

Food applications:

Zhaoqing Wrapped Steamed Rice Dumplings (裹蒸粽), Zongzi (粽子).