Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 474 > Zingiberaceae > Curcuma

60. Curcuma zanthorrhiza Roxb.wfo-0000366175

Fl. Ind. 1: 25. 1820.— Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb., orth. var., Syn. Pl. 1: 19. 1839.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Main rhizome branched, ovoid, 8–12 by 6–8 cm, internally dark yellow-orange to deep bright orange, strongly aromatic with a carrot-like and camphoraceous smell and taste, slightly bitter; branches 5–15 long, 1.5–4 cm diam.; root tubers ellipsoid to fusiform, 3–8 by 1.3–3 cm, internally deep yellow-orange. Leafy shoot 1–2 m tall with up to 8 leaves; pseudostem to 70 cm, bladeless sheaths 4–5, green, glabrous; leaf sheaths green, glabrous; ligule obscurely bilobed, to 2–3 mm long, hyaline, translucent greenish, glabrous but hair on the margin; blades elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 30–100 by 10–28 cm, above green with red patch along both sides of midrib, particularly conspicuous in young leaves, fading with age, glabrous, below lighter green, with red patch showing faintly through from adaxial side, glabrous, midrib green to reddish above, below green, base cuneate, apex acuminate; petiole often slightly winged, 5–20 cm long, green, glabrous. Inflorescence lateral, arising together with leaves or shortly before; peduncle 10–30 cm long, green, sheathing bracts glabrous to sparsely puberulent; thyrse 15–25(–30) by 8–14 cm; fertile bracts broadly ovate to ovate, 5–7 by 4–5 cm, connate in basal ⅓, green, tips tinged with pink, almost glabrous; cincinni with 5–7 flowers at basal bracts; coma bracts 10–17, narrowly ovate with obtuse to rounded, sometimes minutely mucronate apex, 6–8.5 by 2.5–4 cm, pink to deep reddish pink, puberulent on both surfaces; bracteoles ovate to elliptic, 1.5–3.5 by 0.7–2 cm, boat-shaped, keeled, translucent white, glabrous but apex and margins sparsely hairy. Flower gullet type, 5–6 cm long, as long as bracts; ovary barrel-shaped, 4–5 by 3–4 mm, densely hairy; epigynous glands cylindrical, 4–5 mm long, light yellow; stigma irregularly capitate with two blunt, dorsal bulges, ca 1 by 1 mm, ostiole ciliate; calyx 1–1.1 cm long, tridentate, with unilateral incision 4–5 mm, translucent white sometimes with a slight pink tinge, sparsely hairy; floral tube 2.6–3.8 cm long, externally light yellow at base, with light pink tinge distally, glabrous, internally yellow, constricted ca 2.3 cm above ovary, constriction densely hairy, dorsal corolla lobe triangular ovate, concave, hooded with mucronate apex, 1.5–2.1 by 1.3–2 cm, light pink or pink, glabrous but hairy at mucro, lateral corolla lobes triangular with a rounded, slightly concave apex, 1.5–1.8 by 1.5–1.7 cm, light pink to pink, glabrous; lateral staminodes obliquely obovate with rounded to truncate apex, 1.3–1.8 by 0.8–1.1 cm, light yellow, adaxially with glandular hairs; labellum obscurely trilobed, ca 2 by 1.7 cm, lateral lobes folding upwards, apex emarginate with split ca 3 mm, light yellow with bright yellow median band, shortly hairy along both sides of median band; stamen ca 8 mm long, filament 4–5 mm long, 3.5–4.5 mm wide at base, 2.5–3 by ca 4 mm at point of attachment, pale yellow, anther spurred, ca 4 mm long, connective tissue cream-white with glandular hair, anther crest absent, spurs narrowly conical, 3–4 mm long, thecae 3.5–4 mm long, dehiscing throughout their length. Fruit not seen.

Thailand : Cultivated.

Distribution : India, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia (Maluku – type).

Ecology : Cultivated.

Vernacular : Wan chak mot luk (ว่านชักมดลูก).

Uses: Widely grown for numerous medicinal purposes. It is used in the treatment of haemorrhoids, indigestion, inflammations, skin diseases, irregular menstruation, postpartum and perimenopausal bleeding, and as a postpartum tonic.