Alpinia conchigera (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Alpinia conchigera Griffith

Protologue: Not. pl. asiat. 3: 424, pl. 354 (1851).

• Languas conchigera (Griffith) Burkill (1930).

• Malaysia: langkuas kechil, lengkuas padang, chengkenam
• Thailand: khaa ling (eastern)
• Vietnam: riềng rừng.

Eastern India through continental Asia to Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra.

In Peninsular Malaysia, a poultice of the boiled leaves, or of the leaves and rhizome together, is applied topically for rheumatism, and also for bathing. The pounded leaves are also used as a poultice after confinement. In Indo-China, the rhizome is considered stimulating, diaphoretic and used in the treatment of bronchitis, jaundice, headache and vertigo. It is also mixed with other herbs for a post partum tonic. In Thailand, the rhizomes are used for ringworm, indigestion and abscesses, while the leaves are poulticed for ringworm.

In Indo-China, the rhizome is also used for flavouring rice alcohol and food, and the fruits are also considered edible and medicinal.

• A slender herb, 0.6-1.5 m tall, rhizome slender.
• Leaves oblong, 15-30 cm × 4-8 cm, margins ciliate, glabrous, petiole about 5 mm long, ligule entire, up to 5 mm long, pubescent.
• Raceme 20-30 cm long, sometimes with 1 basal branch, cincinni numerous, bracts small, broadly funnel-shaped.
• Flowers small, up to 1.5 cm long, calyx short, 3 mm long, thick, corolla tube short, lobes elliptical-oblong, about 13 mm long, white to greenish-white, labellum obovate, strongly concave, yellowish or pinkish-white with red stripes on each side, 2 short teeth (staminodes) at base, filament 5 mm long, curved, yellow.
• Capsule globular, about 8 mm in diameter, pink or red, glabrous.
• Seed strongly aromatic.

A. conchigera occurs in rubber or oil-palm plantations, swampy areas, open country near villages, semi-wild or planted.

• [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.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.

• Alpinia (Medicinal plants)

• Halijah Ibrahim