493

Kaempferia rotunda L.

Synonym	:	Kaempferia longa Jacq.
Family	:	Zingiberaceae
Local name	:	English - Indian crocus Malayalam - Chengazhineerkizhangu
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March-May
Distribution	:	Indo-Malesia
Distribution in Kerala	:	Malappuram, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Palakkad, Ernakulam
Habitat	:	Cultivated
Uses	:	The tuber is acrid, thermogenic, aromatic, stomachic, anti-inflammatory, emetic, antitumour, vulnerary and are used as a local application for tumours, swellings and wounds.
Key Botanical Characters: Rhizome short, stout, strongly aromatic; roots stout, fleshy, yellow-white tubers. Leaves few, radical, erect; lamina, 15-30 x 5-12 cm, oblong-lanceolate, with acute base and gradually acuminate apex. Inflorescence appearing before the leaves, shortly peduncled, enclosed within greenish-purple, narrow sheaths; 4-12 flowered, usually 1-2 flowers open at the same time. Bracts imbricating, oblong, tip acute. Calyx unilaterally split, tip with two dorsal ridges, light violetish, transparent, sparsely hairy. Corolla tube slightly longer than the calyx, slender, cylindric, nearly erect, obliquely funnel-shaped towards the mouth; lobes white, very narrow, lanceolate with acuminate tip. Labellum broadly ovate, deeply divided into 2 suborbicular lobes, lilac with deep violet in the centre, with many radiating violet lines. Fruiting not common.