Characteristics
A robust ginger family herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It can grow 3 m tall. The rhizome or underground stem is strongly branched. The leaves are broadly sword shaped and 15-47 cm long by 3-7 cm wide. They have a strong scent when bruised. The fruit spikes are narrow and cylinder shaped. They are 9-20 cm long. They are on a robust 1 m long stalk. The fruit is like a berry. It is 2 cm across. The seeds are angular and 5 mm long.
| Life form |
perennial
|
| Growth form |
herb
|
| Growth support |
free-standing
|
| Foliage retention |
-
|
| Sexuality |
hermaphrodite
|
| Pollination |
-
|
| Spread |
-
|
| Mature width (meter) |
-
|
| Mature height (meter) |
3.0
|
| Root system |
rhizome
|
| Rooting depth (meter) |
-
|
| Root diameter (meter) |
-
|
| Flower color |
-
|
| Blooming months |
-
|
| Fruit color |
-
|
| Fruiting months |
-
|
| Nitrogen fixer |
-
|
| Photosynthetic pathway |
-
|
Environment
A tropical plant. It grows in primary and secondary forest up to 1,500 m altitude.
| Light |
-
|
| Soil humidity |
-
|
| Soil texture |
-
|
| Soil acidity |
-
|
| Soil nutriment |
-
|
| Hardiness (USDA) |
-
|
Usage
The salt fruit, ripe and unripe, are eaten with rice. The very young stem parts are eaten as a vegetable. The flower buds are eaten raw or steamed.
| Uses |
food
medicinal
|
| Edible
|
-
|
| Therapeutic use
|
-
|
| Human toxicity |
-
|
| Animal toxicity |
-
|
Cultivation
| Mode |
-
|
| Germination duration (days) |
-
|
| Germination temperacture (C°) |
-
|
| Germination luminosity |
-
|
| Germination treatment |
-
|
| Minimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Optimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Size |
-
|
| Vigor |
-
|
| Productivity |
-
|
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