Roscoea tumjensis is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the Himalayas, in Nepal. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. tumjensis, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. Description Roscoea tumjensis is a perennial herbaceous plant. Like all members of the genus Roscoea, it dies back each year to a short vertical rhizome, to which are attached the tuberous roots. When growth begins again, "pseudostems" are produced: structures which resemble stems but are actually formed from the tightly wrapped bases (sheaths) of its leaves. In the case of R. tumjensis, the flowers appear before the leaves are fully grown. Plants are usually 18–25 cm tall, with four to six leaves. The first three to four consist only of sheaths, which may be marked with purple; the remaining leaves have a blade 4–8 cm by 1.5–4 cm, forming 'ears' (auriculate) at the junction of the blade and sheath. At the junction of the sheath and blade there is also small ligule, extending to 1–2 mm. The flower spike (inflorescence) is held within the leaves. The flowers may be of various colours from pale lilac through to bright purple. The bracts which subtend the flowers are much shorter than the calyx. Each flower has the typical structure for Roscoea (see the diagrams in that article). There is a tube-shaped outer calyx, with a three-lobed apex. Next the three petals (the corolla) form a tube, longer than the calyx, terminating in three lobes, an upright central lobe, about 3 cm long by 1.5–2.5 cm wide, and two narrower side lobes, about 3 cm long by about 0.9–1.4 cm wide. Inside the petals are structures formed from four sterile stamens (staminodes): two lateral staminodes form what appear to be small upright petals, which are 1.1–2.2 cm by 0.8–1.3 cm, with a central vein; two central staminodes are partially fused at the base to form a large lip or labellum, 4.5–5.5 cm long by about 3.5–4.5 cm wide. The labellum is split into two lobes at the end for about a quarter of its length. The single functional stamen has a cream anther, about 6–8 mm long, with 6 mm long spurs formed from the connective tissue between the two capsules of the anther. The flowers somewhat resemble those of R. humeana. The leaf blades have auriculate (ear-shaped) bases like those of R.auriculata,