1090

 Curcuma  ferruginea Roxb.

Family	:	Zingiberaceae
Flowering and fruiting period	:	January to May
Distribution	:	A Central American species but very widely cultivated in South India for Arrowroot.
Endemic/exotic	:	Exotic
Key botanical characters:   Rhizome internally yellow, bitter in taste. Leaf lamina oblong-lanceolate, c. 60 x 18, green with slight red thin patch around midrib, leaves sessile or with petiole up to 10 cm; ligule c. 2 mm long, obscurely bilobed. Inflorescence lateral. Spike c. 15-20 x 6-9 cm. Fertile bracts green with slight red tinge, coma bracts pink. Flowers 6 cm long. Corolla lobes pink. Lateral staminodes light yellow. Labellum yellow, emarginate.