young shoot icon Home All plants About

Cautleya spicata (Sm.) Baker

Species

Angiosperms > Zingiberales > Zingiberaceae > Cautleya

Characteristics

Pseudostems 30--60 cm. Leaves 4--7, petiolate; ligule 5--10 mm, membranous, apex obtuse or acute; petiole 1.5--2 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to linear, 12--30 × 1.6--4 cm, base rounded or obtuse, apex caudate-acuminate. Spikes 7--12 cm, densely many flowered; bracts red, oblong, 2.5--3 cm, longer than calyx. Flowers yellow. Calyx 1.5--2.5 cm, split on 1 side, apex 2-toothed. Corolla 2--2.5 cm; lobes lanceolate, 2--2.5 cm. Lateral staminodes oblanceolate-oblong, subequaling central lobe of corolla. Labellum ca. 2.5 cm, apex 2-cleft. Anther linear, ca. 1.5 cm. Capsule red, globose, ca. 1 cm in diam. Seeds black, ovoid, enclosed in white, scarious aril. Fl. Jul, fr. Sep--Oct. 2 n = 34.
More
A herb in the ginger family. It grows to about 50 cm high. There are 4-7 leaves. The leaves have short stalks. They are oval and taper to a point. The leaf blade is oblong and 12039 cm long by 1.6-4 cm wide. The base is rounded and it tapers to the tip. The flower spikes are 7-12 cm long. The flowers are yellow in short stalked spikes. There are many flowers densely together. The bracts are red and 2.5-3 cm long. The fruit is a capsule. It is round and red. It is about 1 cm across. The seeds are black and oval. They are enclosed in a white seed layer.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.8 - 1.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a temperate plant. In Nepal it grows from 1000-2600 m altitude. It grows in moist shady places. In China it grows on the forest floor or growing on trees between 1100-2600 m altitude in S China.
More
Moist shady places at elevations of 1000-2600 metres in Nepal.
Light 4-7
Soil humidity 5-7
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-10

Usage

The pith of the stem is eaten as a vegetable.
Uses medicinal
Edible stems
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from bulbs.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -5
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Cautleya spicata unspecified picture

Distribution

Cautleya spicata world distribution map, present in China, Myanmar, and Nepal

Conservation status

Cautleya spicata threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID -
WFO ID wfo-0000353044
COL ID RXPM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Cautleya petiolata Cautleya robusta Roscoea spicata Cautleya spicata
WorldFloraDB 2024