Alpinia aquatica

(Retz.) Roscoe

Aquatic galangal

Zingiberaceae

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(c) Steven Chong, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Steven Chong

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) chra_davidtam, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It suits wet areas. It can grow in swamps from sea level to 800 m above sea level. It needs a temperature above 15°C.

Asia, Australia, Hawaii, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, SE Asia, Singapore, USA,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, 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, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A ginger family herb. It grows up to 2 m tall. The leaves are on 1.2 cm long leaf stalks. The leaves are sword shaped and 15-22 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. They are leathery and bright green. The flowers are pink and in a group at the top. The group of flowers are 15-25 cm long. The fruit are round and 6 mm across. They are green and turn red then black. The are 3-5 angular seeds.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from seed. It is best to soak the seed is slightly warm water for 2 days before sowing. Seeds germinate in 1-6 months. Plants can be grown by division or the rhizome.

Medicinal Uses

Used in traditional medicine.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Alpinia aquatica, aquatic ginger, is a species of ginger native from South India to Western Malesia. It was first described by Anders Jahan Retzius and renamed by William Roscoe.

Notes

There are 244 Alpinia species. It is used as medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Lengkuas, Meroyan siamang, Munkanang, Shui shan jiang

Alpinia cormu-cervi Ridl.Alpinia exostylis K. Schum.Alpinia fraseriana Oliv.Heritiera aquatica (Retz.) Willd.Languas aquaticum (Retz.) L. Koenigand several others

References (2)

e-monocot.org/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:218651
Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 31 (As Alpinia fraseriana)