草果药 cao guo yao

Hedychium spicatum Credit: Harvard University Herbaria

Pseudostems ca. 1 m. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; ligule entire, 1.5--2.5 cm, membranous; leaf blade oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 10--40 × 3--10 cm, glabrous or abaxially sparsely villous along midvein, base acute, apex acuminate. Spikes to 20 cm, laxly few or densely many flowered; bracts oblong, 2.5--3 cm, 1-flowered. Flowers fragrant. Calyx 2.5--3.5 cm, apex 3-toothed, split on 1 side. Corolla pale yellowish; tube to 8 cm, apex sometimes purplish red; lobes linear, ca. 2.5 cm, base sometimes purplish red. Lateral staminodes white or becoming yellow, sometimes purplish red, obovate, apex 2-lobed; lobes clawed, apex acute. Labellum yellowish, sometimes purplish red. Filament pale reddish, shorter than labellum. Capsule subglobose, 1.5--2.5 cm in diam., 3-valved; valves ca. 6-seeded. Fl. Jun--Oct. fr. Oct--Nov.

Forests; 1200--3200 m. Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, N Thailand].

Medicinal.