Alpinia malaccensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Alpinia malaccensis (Burm.f.) Roscoe

Protologue: Trans. Linn. Soc. 8: 345 (1807).

• Languas malaccensis (Burm.f.) Merrill (1921),
• Catimbium malaccense (Burm.f.) Holttum (1950).

• Indonesia: laja gowah (Sundanese), langkuas malaka (Moluccas), susuk (Lampung)
• Malaysia: puar, bangle
• Philippines: tagbak babae (Tagalog), barapat (Igorot), birao-birao (Sulu)
• Thailand: kha paa (northern, north-eastern)
• Vietnam: riềng malacca.

Widespread from the moister parts of mountainous regions of India towards Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Cultivated in north-eastern India, Java and southern China.

All plant parts are fragrant, and contain essential oils. In Java the pounded rhizome is used to cure wounds and sores. An infusion of the ripe and unripe fruits with a little salt is taken as an emetic. In the Philippines a decoction of the fruit or the crushed seed is applied for gastralgia with tympanites. A decoction is used for bathing feverish people. The rhizomes were chewed in the Moluccas together with betel nut ( Areca catechu L.) to make the voice strong and clear. The rhizome is occasionally used as a spice, and is eaten as a vegetable in India. The pounded rhizome is also used as an ingredient of poison.

• A robust herb, 2-4 m tall, strongly aromatic when bruised.
• Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 40-90 cm × 7(-20) cm, acuminate, usually densely pubescent below or pubescent on margins and midrib, sheath densely short hairy near the blade, ligule entire, up to 1 cm long, hairy, petiole 3-7 cm long; inflorescence racemose, erect or slightly curved, about 35 cm long, with 30 or more cincinni usually of 2 flowers each, bracts absent, bracteoles 1.5-2 cm long, caducous as the flower opens, white, cincinni of 2 very shortly pedicellate flowers or reduced to a single flower.
• Pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm long; calyx 2 cm long, shortly 3-lobed and deeply split unilaterally, white, pubescent, corolla white, tube up to 1 cm long, lobes ciliate, lateral lobes 3 cm × 1 cm, dorsal lobe up to 4 cm × 2.5 cm, labellum broadly ovate, 3-5 cm long and at widest part 3 cm across, sides incurved, narrowing to an emarginate apex, at the base with 2 papillose fleshy swellings, yellow-orange with scarlet lines, lateral staminodes subulate, up to 5 mm long, filament of stamen about 1 cm long, anther connective not prolonged into a crest.
• Capsule globose, up to 3 cm in diameter, shortly pubescent, red; seed 3-4-angular, about 5 mm long.

A. malaccensis is commonly found in primary forest and shaded rocky outcrops at low and medium altitudes.

• [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.
• [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.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

• Alpinia (Medicinal plants)
• See also Alpinia (Essential oils)

• Halijah Ibrahim