White Ginger

White ginger is sometimes called butterfly ginger, because each blossom looks like a white moth resting on the stalk with its wings half open.

Its perfume is one of the great smells of Hawaiʻi, strongest in the evening and after rain, drifting out of wet valleys long before you find the plant.

The blossoms are strung into some of the most fragrant leis made, though they bruise easily and must be worn the same day. Some beautiful things simply refuse to be saved for later.