Scientific Name: Alpinia calcarata (Haw.) Roscoe

Synonyms: Alpinia alata A.Dietr.,Alpinia bracteata Roscoe

Unique ID: 6

Systematic Position

Class: Monocotyledonae
Series: Epigynae
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae

Common Names
English – Lesser galangal
Malayalam – ചിറ്റരത്ത
Others – Snap ginger

Description: Leafy stem 1-1.5 m. Leaves sessile, lamina glabrous, 40-50 x 2-2.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, narrowed towards the base, tip acuminate, margin with short bristles placed 1-2 mm apart; Inflorescence terminal, 10-15 cm long, densely paniculate; peduncle densely pubescent. Bracts minute, c. 1 mm long, triangular, pubescent, deciduous. Flowers shortly pedicellate; pedicel densely pubescent. Calyx tubular, 0.8-1 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Corolla tube almost equal to the calyx, pubescent, lobes oblong, pubescent outside; Fruit globose, 2-2.5 x 1.5 cm, pubescent, orange-red. Seeds many.

Habitat: Wildly cultivated; sometimes runs wild.

Distribution: Disitributed in Indo-Malaysia

Uses: Used in Ayurveda