WorldFloraDB - Curcuma aromatica

Characteristics

Plants ca. 1 m tall. Rhizomes yellow inside, elliptic or narrowly so, fleshy, aromatic; roots with fusiform tubers. Petiole equaling leaf blade; leaf blade oblong, 30--60 × 10--20 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially pubescent, base attenuate, apex narrowly caudate. Inflorescences on separate shoots arising from rhizomes, usually appearing before leaves; spike cylindric, ca. 15 × 8 cm; fertile bracts pale green, ovate, 4--5 cm; coma bracts white, tinged with red, narrowly oblong, pubescent, apex mucronate. Calyx sparsely hairy, 0.8--1.5 cm. Corolla tube funnelform, 2.3--2.5 cm, villous at throat; lobes pinkish white, oblong, ca. 1.5 cm. Lateral staminodes yellowish, obovate-oblong, ca. 1.5 cm. Labellum yellow, obovate, ca. 2.5 cm, apex emarginate. Ovary villous. Fl. Apr--Jun. 2 n = 42.

More

A ginger family herb that keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m tall and spreads widely. It has fleshy underground roots or rhizomes. It has cane like false stems and sword shaped leaves. The leaves are pointed and can be 60 cm long. The flowers are on leafy stems. They are in cone like heads. The flowers have 3 petals. There are large coloured bracts around the flowers. The flower stems are 60 cm long and the flowering head is 20 cm long. The lower bracts are pale green and the upper bracts are pink. The flowers are yellow and white.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

herb

Growth support

free-standing

Foliage retention

evergreen

Sexuality

hermaphrodite

Pollination

-

Spread

-

Mature width (meter)

-

Mature height (meter)

1.0

Root system

rhizome

Rooting depth (meter)

-

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

-

Fruiting months

-

Nitrogen fixer

-

Photosynthetic pathway

-

Environment

A tropical plant. They need warm, frost-free climates. They need moist, humus-rich, well drained soil. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.

More

Warm forest areas in the eastern Himalayas.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity	-
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

Young shoots are eaten as a vegetable. The rhizome is pounded and used as a substitute for turmeric.

Uses	dye environmental use food material medicinal
Edible	rhizomes roots shoots
Therapeutic use	Asthma (leaf), Gastrointestinal diseases (leaf), Tuberculosis (leaf), Acne vulgaris (rhizome), Anthelmintics (rhizome), Anti-bacterial agents (rhizome), Antifungal agents (rhizome), Antinematodal agents (rhizome), Antineoplastic agents (rhizome), Antirheumatic agents (rhizome), Appetite stimulants (rhizome), Central nervous system diseases (rhizome), Contusions (rhizome), Dysentery (rhizome), Dyspepsia (rhizome), Edema (rhizome), Exanthema (rhizome), Fever (rhizome), Flatulence (rhizome), Hypersensitivity (rhizome), Infection (rhizome), Inflammation (rhizome), Intestinal diseases, parasitic (rhizome), Jaundice (rhizome), Pain (rhizome), Parasympatholytics (rhizome), Pregnancy complications (rhizome), General tonic for rejuvenation (rhizome), Sexually transmitted diseases (rhizome), Skin diseases (rhizome), Snake bites (rhizome), Sprains and strains (rhizome), Wounds and injuries (rhizome), Abdominal pain (root), Fever (root), Wounds and injuries (root), Asthma (stem), Tuberculosis (stem), Anti-bacterial agents (tuber), Asthma (tuber), Astringents (tuber), Contraceptive agents (tuber), Contusions (tuber), Exanthema (tuber), Infection (tuber), Skin diseases, infectious (tuber), Sprains and strains (tuber), Tuberculosis (tuber), Bactericide (unspecified), Balsamic (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified), Candida (unspecified), Carminative (unspecified), Cholagogue (unspecified), Fungicide (unspecified), Sprain (unspecified), Stomachic (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Bruise (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Appetite stimulants (unspecified), Bronchitis (unspecified), Contusions (unspecified), Cough (unspecified), Exanthema (unspecified), Flatulence (unspecified), Gastritis (unspecified), Hematologic diseases (unspecified), Hiccup (unspecified), Sprains and strains (unspecified), Vitiligo (unspecified), Anthelmintics (whole plant), Antifungal agents (whole plant), Anti-infective agents (whole plant), Gastritis (whole plant), Uterine cervical neoplasms (whole plant)
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

They can be grown from seed or by division.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	-
Minimum temperature (C°)	1
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-