Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - vol 45 - Turmeric- The Genus Curcuma

18 Turmeric: The Genus Curcuma
2.2.2 C. LONGA L.
C. longa Linn. Sp. Pl. 1:2, 1753; Koenig in Retzius, Obs. Bot. 3:72, 1983; Roxburgh, Asiat. Res.
11:340, 1810; Fl. Indica 1:32, 1820; Dalzell and Gibson, Bombay Fl. Suppl. 87, 1861; Baker in
Hooker f. Fl. Brit. India 6:214, 1890; Schuman in Engler, Pflanzer. 4(46):108, 1904; Fischer in
Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 8:1483, 1928; Burtt and Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 31:185,
1972; in Dassanayaka, Rev. Hand b. Fl. Ceylon 4:500, 1983; Burtt, Note, Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh
35:209, 1977; Lectotype: Manjella Kua Rheede, Hort. Malab. 11:21, t. 11, 1692.
C. domestica Valeton. Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzerg, 2 Ser. 27:31, 1918; Redley, Fl. Malay
Peninsula, 4:254, 1924; Holttum, Gard. Bull, Singapore, 13:68, 1950.
The following description of the species is based mainly on Holttum (1950). Primary tuber
ellipsoid, c.5 by 2.5 cm; emitting many rhizomes 5 to 8 cm long, 1.5 cm thick, straight or a little
curved, bearing secondary branches, the whole forming a dense clump; color inside deep orange,
outside yellowish orange; root tubers usually absent. Leaf stem up to about 1 m; leaf blade rarely
over 50 cm; usually 30 by 7 to 8 cm; wholly green. Petiole thin, abruptly broadened at the sheath.
Ligule lobes small (1 mm); sheath near ligules with ciliate edges (Figure 2.1). Inflorescence apical
on the leaf shoot, 10 to 15 cm long, 5 to 7 cm wide. Coma bracts white or white streaked with
green, grading to light green bracts lower down; bracts adnate for less than half their length, elliptic,
lanceolate, acute, length 5 to 6 cm. Bracteoles up to 3.5 cm long (Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3). Flowers
5 to 5.5 cm long; petals white, staminodes and lip creamy-white with yellow median band on the
lip. Calyx truncate, 1 cm long, minutely pubescent. Corolla tube 2.5 cm long, white, glabrous, lobes
unequal, dorsal lobe larger, 1.5 × 1.7 cm, concave, white hooded, hood hairy; lateral lobes linear,
1.5 × 1.2 cm; white, glabrous. Labellum ca. 2.2 × 2.5 cm, trilobed, middle lobe emarginate; lateral
staminodes linear, 1.5 × 0.8 cm; tip slightly incurved, included within the dorsal corolla lobe. Style
long, filiform, stigma bilipped. Epigynous glands two, 5 mm long. Filaments united to anther about
the middle of the pollen sacs; spurs very large, broad, diverging, a little curved with the thin apex
always recurved outwards. Ovary 5 mm, tricarpellary, syncarpous; ovules many on axial placenta
(Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3), pubescent toward the tip, fruiting absent or extremely rare.
2.2.3 RELATED SPECIES
2.2.3.1 C. amada Roxb.
C. amada Roxb. Asiat. Res. 11:341, 1810, Fl. Indica 1:33, 1820.
The epithet amada is derived from Bengali, meaning mango, referring to the characteristic taste
of the rhizome resembling green mango. This species resembles C. longa in its external morphology,
but its rhizome is creamy-yellow and not bright orange as in turmeric. Rhizome large, 4.5 × 3.4
cm, creamy-yellow inside, white toward the periphery, sessile tubers thick, 5 to 10 × 2 to 3 cm,
cylindrical or ellipsoidal, branched, root tubers absent. Leafy shoot 70 to 100 cm tall, leaves four
to five, petiole 5 to 10 cm; lamina 45 to 60 × 14 to 15 cm; lower ones smaller; oblong-lanceolate,
lower surface puberulous, upper glabrous, tip hairy. Inflorescence lateral (very rarely central)
produced early in the season, spike 12 to 18 cm long, peduncle 20 to 22 cm; fertile bracts 15 to
18, coma bracts 5 to 8 numbers, ca. 6 × 2.5 cm, fused at the base only, light violet. Fertile bract
ca. 4 × 3.5 cm; lower two-thirds fused to form a pouch, green. Each bract subtends a cincinnus of
four to five flowers, flowers large and 4 to 5 cm long. Corolla tube funnel shaped, pale yellow,
minutely pubescent, lobes unequal; labellum ca. 18 × 1.5 cm, three-lobed, pale yellow with a
median dark yellow band, glabrous. Lateral staminodes ca. 10.5 × 6.9 cm, apex slightly incurved,
pale yellow. Stamen white, basal spur 1 mm long, slightly convergent, glabrous. Style long, filiform,
stigma closely appressed with anther lobes. Epigynous glands two. Ovary trigonal, 3 mm long,
tricarpellory, syncarpous, with many ovules in axile placenta, densely hairy. Fruiting not reported.