Alpinia vitellina (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Alpinia vitellina (Lindley) Ridley var. cannaefolia (Ridley) I.M. Turner

Protologue: Novon 6(2): 223 (1996).

Synonyms

Malaysia.

The leaves and rhizomes are boiled and drunk for fever.

A stout herb, 1.2-1.5 m tall.
Leaves lanceolate to oblong, up to 30 cm × 15 cm, base narrowed, petiole up to 2-5 cm long.
Panicle erect, 10-15 cm long, pubescent, bracteoles small.
Calyx 2.5 mm long, pubescent, corolla tube slender, lobes linear, 2.5 cm long, rounded, yellow, labellum 2-2.5 cm long, oblong, bifid, margins crisped, orange, staminodes short, red, stamen 2.5 cm long, filament broadly winged, orange, pubescent, anther crested, 3-lobed.
Capsule oblong, pubescent, 2-3-seeded.
Seed oblong, 8 mm long, black.

A. vitellina occurs in dense secondary forest, and is rather rare.

[135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
[381] Habsah, M., Amran, M., Mackeen, M.M., Lajis, N.H., Kikuzaki, H., Nakatani, N., Rahman, A.A., Ghafar & Ali, A.M., 2000. Screening of Zingiberaceae extracts for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 72(3): 403—410.
[841] Ridley, H.N., 1922—1925. The flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 volumes. Government of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States. L. Reeve & Co, London, United Kingdom.