红球姜 hong qiu jiang

Amomum zerumbet Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 1. 1753.

Rhizomes yellowish inside, tuberous. Pseudostems 0.6--2 m. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; ligule entire, 1.5--2 cm; leaf blade lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 15--40 × 3--8 cm, glabrescent or abaxially somewhat pilose, base narrowed, apex acuminate. Inflorescences arising from rhizomes, conical or ovoid-oblong, 6--15 × 3.5--5 cm, apex obtuse; peduncle 10--30 cm, scalelike sheaths 5--7; bracts closely imbricate, green when young, red when old, slightly hairy, slimy adaxially, margin membranous; bracteoles ca. 1.5 cm. Calyx 1.2--2 cm, membranous, split on 1 side, apex 3-toothed. Corolla tube 2--3 cm, slender; lobes pale yellow, lanceolate, central one 1.5--2.5 cm. Labellum pale yellow, ca. 1.5 × 2.5 cm; central lobe suborbicular or subobovate, 1.5--2 × ca. 1.5 cm, apex emarginate; lateral lobes obovate, ca. 1 cm, free nearly to base. Stamen ca. 1 cm; connective appendage beaklike, ca. 8 mm. Ovary ca. 4 mm, glabrous. Capsule ellipsoid, 0.8--1.2 cm. Seeds black. Fl. Jul--Sep, fr. Oct. 2 n = 22*.

Moist places in forests. Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

Widely cultivated, medicinal.