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<big>''[[Curculigo orchioides]]'' Gaertner</big>
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:Protologue: Fruct. sem. pl. 1: 63 (1788).
Four phenolic glycosides have been isolated and identified: curculigoside, orcinal glycoside, curculigine A and corchioside A. Curculigoside from the rhizomes exerts immunological and protective effects. It has been found a characteristic constituent of "Curculiginis Rhizoma", and a quantitative determination method using HPLC has been developed. The determination was performed indirectly by measuring the content of 2,6-dimethoxybenzoic acid, the hydrolysis product of curculigoside. Using this method, an average content of 0.2% curculigoside has been found in rhizomes from China.
Several aliphatic hydroxy-ketones (e.g. 27-hydroxytriacontan-6-one) have been reported from ''C. orchioides'' . The powdered rhizomes furthermore contain approximately 8% water, 4% alcohol-extractable matter, 1.5% ether-extractable matter, 15% crude fibre, 20% mucilage and 8.5% ash.
From the fruits of ''Curculigo latifolia'' Dryander, which grows wild in western Malaysia, 114 amino acids containing the peptide curculin were isolated. Curculin itself elicits a sweet taste (550 times sweeter than sucrose on a weight basis), which disappears rather rapidly after holding it in the mouth. Tasting a lemon (or ascorbic, citric or hydrochloric acid) afterwards then elicits a sweet, orange-like taste. This taste-modifying sensation lasts for about 10 minutes.
== Description ==
*A perennial herb up to 50 cm tall, with vertical, more or less tuberous, blackish rhizome and rather stout roots. *Leaves alternate, clustered and sessile on rhizome, narrowly lanceolate, 20-30 cm × 1-2 cm, long-tapering at base into a pseudo-petiole which is sheath-like at its base, and also long-tapering at apex, plicate, sparsely pilose with long hairs or glabrous, with few to several parallel veins. *Inflorescence axillary, inconspicuous among the leaf-bases, spike-like, few-flowered or with a solitary flower, and with a very short scape or peduncle; bracts lanceolate, spathaceous, 2-4 cm long, membranous, surpassing the peduncle and ovary. *Flowers long-pilose, lower ones in the inflorescence bisexual, upper ones male; perianth with long slender tube 2-3 cm long (resembling a pedicel) and 6 equal, spreading lobes which are lanceolate to elliptical, 5-8 mm long, few-veined, pale outside and bright yellow inside; stamens 6, inserted on bases of perianth lobes, about half as long as perianth lobes, with short filaments attached to the bases of the linear anthers; ovary inferior, 3-locular, locules imperfect, style short and thick, with 3 stigmas. *Fruit berry-like, rather fleshy, ellipsoid, about 1.5 cm in diameter, surpassed by the bract, beaked by the persistent perianth tube, 1-4-seeded. *Seeds subglobose to oblong, about 4 mm long, with beak (elaiosome) lateral to hilum; testa crustaceous, striate, black and shiny.
== Growth and development ==
== Other botanical information ==
''C. orchioides'' belongs to a genus of approximately 10 species with pantropical distribution. ''Curculigo'' has been variously included in ''Amaryllidaceae'' and ''Liliaceae'' , but is nowadays usually considered as belonging to the comparatively small family ''Hypoxidaceae'' with about 10 genera.
''C. ensifolia'' R. Br., a species recorded for Australia, is possibly conspecific with ''C. orchioides'' .
== Ecology ==
''C. orchioides'' occurs in open fields and grasslands. In Java it grows on periodically very dry, sunny or slightly shaded localities in grasslands and teak forest up to 400 m altitude. In the Philippines it is also found in grasslands, often dominated by ''Imperata'' .
== Propagation and planting ==
There is no information about tests on propagation of ''C. orchioides'' , but the method described for ''C. latifolia'' may be applicable. In trials with tissue culture of ''C. latifolia'' for propagation for ornamental purposes, cultures of rhizomes showed the best results. A half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium was used, supplemented with sucrose (30 g/l), thiamine (0.4 g/l), coconut water (150 ml/l), kinetin (5 mg/l) and indole-acetic acid (2.5 mg/l). About 90% of the plants potted out survived.
== Diseases and pests ==
In India, rust ( ''Puccinia hypoxidis'' ) is reported from ''C. orchioides'' .
== Harvesting ==
== Literature ==
* Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr., R.C., 1968. Flora of Java. Vol. 3. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. p. 209.
== Other selected sources ==
== Authors ==
*R.H.M.J. Lemmens & S.F.A.J. Horsten
[[Category:Medicinal plants (PROSEA)]]
[[Category:PROSEA]]
