Alpinia tonkinensis Gagnep.

Medicinal and used as a condiment.

Pseudostems stout. Leaf sheath longitudinally lined; ligule 1.5--2 cm, leathery, apex obtuse; petiole 3--6 cm; leaf blade linear-lanceolate, ca. 60 × 7 cm, leathery, glabrous, base attenuate, apex acuminate. Panicles erect, 40--50 × ca. 4 cm, proximally glabrous, distally densely villous; branches apically 3--5-flowered; bracts ovate, ca. 1.5 cm, leathery, deciduous; bracteoles similar to bracts but smaller. Pedicel very short. Calyx subcampanulate, 9--10 mm, split to middle on 1 side, apex irregularly crenate. Corolla tube 7--8 mm; lobes oblong, 1.5--1.8 cm, concave, central one ciliate at proximal margin, apex apiculate. Lateral staminodes linear, very short. Labellum orbicular or ovate, ca. 1.4 × 1--1.2 cm, base slightly contracted, apex emarginate. Filament 4--5 mm; anther ca. 6 mm. Ovary globose, sericeous. Fl. Feb. 2 n = 48*.

Forests. Guangxi, Hainan [Vietnam].