Amomum gracile (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Protologue: Enum. pl. Javae 1: 49 (1827).

Vernacular names

Western and central Java.

Fruits are chewed to treat nausea and indigestion.

A medium-sized to fairly large herb up to 110(-200) cm tall, with poorly developed rhizome and slender, up to 0.6 cm thick, branched stolons and slender, up to 1 cm thick, leafy stems which are bulbous at base.
Leaves lanceolate, larger ones 25-35 cm × 3-4 cm.
Inflorescence short, up to 5.5 cm long including peduncle, few-flowered, bracts few, up to 1.5 cm long, outer 1-2 sterile, bracteoles about 1 cm long, tubular at the base.
Flowers more or less sessile, exserted from bracts, corolla tube about as long as calyx, labellum white with red tubercles at base, a red band in the centre and margins edged with red, stamen much shorter than labellum, anther with large 3-lobed appendage.
Fruit 1-1.5 cm long, 3-grooved, red, densely covered with minute straight prickles.

A. gracile occurs below 100 m altitude, often in teak forest.

Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
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.
Valeton, T., 1904. Ueber neue und unvollständig bekannte Zingiberaceae aus West Java und Buitenzorg [About new and incompletely known Zingiberaceae from West Java]. Bulletin de l'Institute Botanique de Buitenzorg No 20. 99 pp.