Curcuma caesia

Roxb.

Black zedoary

ZingiberaceaeRootsFlowersSpice/Beverage

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Rhizome - spice, Root, Flowers

The fresh rhizome is occasionally used as a spice, and the flowers are also edible.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. In Queen Sirikit BG.

Asia, Bangladesh, India, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Thailand,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A ginger family herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The rhizome is bluish-black. It grows 2-6 m long. The plant grows 1 m tall. The leaves are in groups of 10-20 and are broadly sword shaped. The flowers are 15-20 cm long in a spike. The flowers develop before the leaves.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from the rhizome.

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used in traditional medicine.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Curcuma caesia, black turmeric or black zedoary, is a perennial herb with bluish-black rhizomes that is native to northeast India.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

It is used in medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Chong-ut, Kalacheng, Kala-haldi, Krishna kedar, Nalla pasupi, Yaingang amuba

Curcuma kuchoor RoyleCurcuma malabarica Velay., Amalraj & Mural.

References (7)

Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 25
Borah, R. L., & Sharma, G. C., 2012, Systematic Survey of Zingiberaceae of Dibrugarh District, Assam, India. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Science 2(2): pp 365-373
Mishra, M., 2013, Utilization of wild tuberous plants in extreme environmental condition: A Case of Baiga Tribe of Central India. The Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicine. Photon 118 (2013) 366-372
Seidemann J., 2005, World Spice Plants. Economic Usage, Botany, Taxonomy. Springer. p 126
Teron, R. & Borthakur, S. K., 2016, Edible Medicines: An Exploration of Medicinal Plants in Dietary Practices of Karbi Tribal Population of Assam, Northeast India. In Mondal, N. & Sen, J.(Ed.) Nutrition and Health among tribal populations of India. p 157
Toppo, P. et al, 2016, Wild edible plants of Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, India. Van Sangyan Vol. 3, No. 4
Zeven, A. C. & de West, J. M. J., 1982, Dictionary of cultivated plants and their regions of diversity. Wageningen. p 80