野薑花是古巴國花，在古巴叫mariposa，意思是蝴蝶花。野薑花並非古巴原產，古巴卻對它情有獨鍾，獨立後選為國花，是有原因的。19世紀古巴對抗西班牙殖民的獨立戰爭中，往往透過女性身上或髮髻上插著野薑花，在花序的交錯的苞片縫隙裡夾藏字條，幫助革命分子傳遞作戰情報。
The white ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium) is the national flower of Cuba, where it is known as mariposa (literally “butterfly”) due to its shape.
Women used to adorn themselves with these fragrant flowers in Spanish colonial times. Because of the intricate structure of the inflorescence (繁複的花序構造), women hid and carried secret messages important to the independence cause underneath it.
Photo: Bookman l 圖片 :書林提供
以下為古巴外交部對國花的說明：
The white mariposa (Hedychium Coronarium) … became a symbol of Cuban flora because Cuban women used it to smuggle messages to the battlefield during the liberation wars of the 19th century. (“National Flower” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba)
夏天是野薑花的季節，野薑的地下根莖(rhizomes)可作薑的替代品，像白色蝴蝶的花有股特殊的清香(Its scent is exquisite)，可做插花，也可入菜。
Photo: Bookman l 圖片 :書林提供
野薑花Hedychium coronarium, the white ginger lily, is a perennial flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae (薑科植物). It is native to the Eastern Himalayas of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and even through northernmost Myanmar and Thailand, as well as southern China and Taiwan in the East. It is typically found growing in the forest understory (林下), where the pseudostems (假莖) arising from rhizomes (根莖) below ground may reach 1-3m in height. In its native environment, flowering occurs between August and December.
野薑花的屬名Hedychium，意思是芳香雪白，種小名coronarium，意即皇冠。
The genus name Hedychium is derived from two ancient Greek words, hedys meaning “sweet” and chios meaning “snow”. This refers to the fragrant white flower of the type species H. coronarium. The species epithet ‘coronarium’ means “crown”.
Photo: Bookman l 圖片 :書林提供
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www.bookman.com.tw
蘇正隆 — 台灣翻譯學學會前理事長、師大翻譯研究所兼任副教授; 編著《走讀自然.花言樹語》，《英語的對與錯》，《世紀病毒：必讀防疫英文知識與詞彙》...等。國家教育研究院中英雙語詞彙審議委員；研究領域為翻譯、術語及詞典編譯，從事植物與人文導覽數十年，亦曾應邀遠赴國外大學做植物人文導覽。
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