Amomum longiligulare (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Amomum longiligulare T.L. Wu

Protologue: Fl. Hainan. 4: 533 (1977).

Vernacular names

• Vietnam: sa nhân, mè trá là.

Distribution

Hainan, northern and central Vietnam; also cultivated in Vietnam.

Uses

Seeds are used to treat indigestion, diarrhoea, vomiting and toothache, whereas the roots are applied against rheumatism.

Observations

• A large herb up to 250 cm tall, with rhizome creeping on the ground.
• Leaves narrowly elliptical, 20-30 cm × 5-6 cm.
• Inflorescence small, on a 2-4 cm long peduncle, few-flowered, bracts few.
• Flowers subsessile, corolla tube about as long as calyx, labellum rounded and concave, with yellow margins, anther with clearly 3-lobed appendage.
• Fruit 1.5-2 cm in diameter, brownish-purple, short-thorned.

In Vietnam, A. longiligulare occurs in mountainous areas.

Selected sources

• Nguyen Xuan Dung & Do Tat Loi, 1991. Selection of traditional medicines for study. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 32(1-3): 57-70.

Main genus page

• Amomum (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Nguyen Quoc Binh