e-Flora of Thailand
Volume 16 > Part 2 > Year 2023 > Page 462 > Zingiberaceae > Curcuma
47. Curcuma rubescens Roxb.wfo-0000366009
Asiat. Res. 11: 336. 1810.
Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.
Synonyms & Citations :
Description : Rhizome branched, main rhizome narrowly ovoid to ovoid, 8 by 5 cm, internally white with pale brown centre; branches 6–8 by 1.5–2 cm, white with brownish white centre; root tubers ovoid, to 6 by 2.5 cm, internally white with pale brown centre. Leafy shoot 0.8–1.2 m tall with 5–8 leaves; bladeless sheaths 3–5, purplish red, glabrous, apex mucronate; leaf sheaths purplish red, glabrous to puberulent; ligule obscurely bilobed, ca 2 mm long, membranous; blades elliptic to obovate, 45–50 by 10–14 cm, plicate, green with red midrib above, sometimes slightly extending on either side of midrib, paler green below with dark red midrib, base cuneate, apex acuminate; petiole very short to 10 cm long, glabrous, purplish red. Inflorescence lateral; peduncle 13–20 cm long, covered with dark red, glabrous sheathing bracts; thyrse 15–20 cm long; fertile bracts broadly obovate with obtuse or mucronate apex, 4–4.5 by 2.5–3.5 cm, green with slight reddish tinge, glabrous on both surfaces; coma bracts obovate with obtuse apex, 5–5.5 by 2–3 cm, pink, hairy on both surfaces; bracteoles boat-shaped with obtuse apex, ca 1.7 by 1.4 cm, white, glabrous or with sparse hair at apex. Flower gullet type; ovary barrel-shaped, ca 4 by 2.5–3 mm long, densely hairy; epigynous glands cylindrical with acute apex, 4 mm long; stigma irregularly capitate with two blunt, dorsal bulges, 1 mm diam., white, ostiole ciliate; calyx ca 1 cm long, apex tridentate with unilateral incision, white, hairy along ridges; floral tube narrowly cylindrical at base, funnel-shaped in distal half, ca 3.2 cm long, externally pale yellow or with pink tinge distally, glabrous, internally with yellow, with prominent constriction in middle, glabrous at base, hairy at and above constriction, dorsal corolla lobe ovate with hooded, prominently mucronate apex, ca 1.5 by 1.3 cm, pale pink, glabrous with few hairs at apex, lateral corolla lobes triangular with rounded apex, shallowly concave, pale pink, glabrous; lateral staminodes broadly irregularly oblong with obtuse apex, ca 1.5 by 0.8 cm, pale yellow, above with glandular hair; labellum trilobed, ca 1.7 by 1.5 cm, apex of midlobe emarginate to bifid, side lobes folding upwards, yellow with brighter yellow median band, glabrous but with short glandular hair on either side of median band; stamen ca 6 mm long; filament ca 2.5 mm long, ca 3 mm wide at base, ca 1.5 mm at point of attachment, pale yellow, glabrous; anther spurred, ca 7 mm long (incl. spurs), connective tissue cream to pale yellow, glabrous, spurs narrowly conical, 2–3 mm long; anther crest ca 0.5 mm long, yellow. Fruit globular to subglobular, pale green to cream, sparsely pubescent; seeds obovoid, brown with white, laciniate aril.
Thailand : Cultivated.
Distribution : India, Myanmar.
Ecology : Cultivated.
Vernacular : Krachiao kap daeng (กระเจียวกาบแดง), wan maha prap (ว่านมหาปราบ).
Uses: Cultivated for ornamental purposes.