Amomum xanthioides (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Amomum xanthioides Wallich ex Baker
- Protologue: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 239 (1892).
Synonyms
- Amomum villosum Lour. var. xanthioides (Wallich ex Baker) T.L. Wu & S.J. Chen (1978).
Vernacular names
- Bastard cardamom, tavoy cardamom (En)
- Thailand: phaa laa (Shan, Chiang Mai), maak ee (Chiang Mai), neak naeng (north-eastern)
- Vietnam: sa nhân, súc sa mật.
Distribution
India, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, southern China and Thailand.
Uses
In Chinese and Vietnamese traditional medicine, fruits are used to treat indigestion, diarrhoea, flatulence, gastralgia, toothache, and as febrifuge and antiseptic. They are also used as a spice and condiment. Thai traditional doctors also apply the fruit to treat cough, against asthma and as an anti-emetic.
Observations
- A large herb up to 300 cm tall, with thick rhizome.
- Leaves narrowly ovate-lanceolate, up to 40 cm × 9 cm.
- Inflorescence ascending, on peduncle up to 8 cm long, with few flowers, bracts membraneous, bracteoles tubular at the base.
- Flowers with corolla tube slightly longer than calyx, labellum spoon-shaped to almost circular and concave with emarginate apex, white with prominent middle vein, anther with a 3-lobed appendage having ear-shaped side lobes.
- Fruit 1.5-2 cm long, yellowish-green and covered by small spines, difficult to break into 3 fragments.
A. xanthioides occurs in forest, often in mountainous areas, and usually on wet soils.
Selected sources
- Dao Lan Phuong, 1990. Chemical composition of Vietnamese Amomum xanthioides essential oil. Tap chi Duoc hoc 1: 17-19. (in Vietnamese)
- Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
- Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
Main genus page
- Amomum (Medicinal plants)
Authors
- Nguyen Quoc Binh
