Lesser Alpinia

Medicinal.

Pseudostems 1.2--2 m. Ligule entire, ca. 5 mm, tomentose or glabrous; petiole 5--10 mm; leaf blade lanceolate, 20--30 × 1--10 cm, glabrous except pubescent along midvein abaxially and at margin, lateral veins very conspicuous and dense when dry, base obtuse, apex acute. Panicles 20--30 cm, usually only 1- or 2-branched; secondary branches many, ca. 1.5 cm; bracts ca. 5 mm; bracteoles funnelform, 3--4 mm, apex obliquely truncate. Pedicel 3--5 mm. Calyx pale green, cupular, 3--4 mm, apex 3-cleft. Corolla white or pale blue-green, abaxially pubescent; tube equaling calyx; lobes 5--7 mm, central one rounded at apex. Lateral staminodes red, quadrate, ca. 1.5 mm. Labellum pale yellow or pinkish with red streaks, obovate, ca. 5 mm, concave, base bearing a purple callosity covering corolla throat. Filament pale yellowish to pinkish, ca. 5 mm, slender; anther ca. 2 mm. Ovary pyriform, glabrous. Capsule globose when fresh, oblong when dry, 8--10 mm in diam. Seeds 3--5, strongly aromatic. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Sep--Dec.

Yunnan [Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Laos, W Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].

Forests; 600--1100 m.

Languas conchigera (Griffith) Burkill.

Alpinia conchigera, the lesser alpinia, is a plant species in the genus Alpinia.

Cardamomin is a chalconoid isolated from A. conchigera.