Curcuma longa

• Botanical Name : Curcuma longa L.
• Synonyms : Curcuma domestica Valeton, Curcuma tinctoria Guibourt
• Common Name : Haldar, Turmeric, Purging Croton
• Plant Family : Zingiberaceae
• Plant Form : Herb
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park

About Curcuma longa Plant :

• Habit : A tall herb with fleshy rhizomes, orange coloured.
• Leaves : Large, oblong-lanceolate, base incurved, petioles long.
• Inflorescence : Spikes
• Flower :
  • Bracteate, bracts green tingled red, ovate, bracteoles many, flowers open one by one, petals tubular, short, dentate, corolla tube funnel-shaped, segments, oblong, concave.
  • Stamen 1, staminodespetaloid, labellum orbicular.
  • Ovary 3-celled, style slender, stigma 2-lipped.
• Flowering and Fruiting Time : February - April
• Significance :
  • It is mainly cultivated for its fleshy orange-coloured rhizomes used for masala and dried up rhizomes are powdered and used in cooking and in dyeing.
  • It is carminative, cooling and stomachic.