''Hedychium spicatum'' is a plant species native to China (

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the ...

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Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

), the

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and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of China v 24 p 373, 草果药 cao guo yao, ''Hedychium spicatum'' Smith in Rees, Cycl. 17: Hedychium no. 3. 1811.
/ref> ''Hedychium spicatum'' is a small, hardy perennial that grows to around , with green leaves and large orange and white flowers. It is also commonly known as spiked ginger lily, or perfume ginger.

Uses

The Indian medicinal system (Ayurveda) described the species as having pungent, light, bitter, strong, heating properties. The species is also an ingredient of some

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

(TCM),

traditional Tibetan medicine Traditional Tibetan medicine (), also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior ...

and

Unani medicine Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes Un ...

. The powder and decoction of the rhizome are used for a variety of conditions. The rhizome is also chewed by the inhabitants of Uttarakhand to clean their mouths and freshen their breath. The fruit of this species may be cooked and eaten with lentils in savoury dishes. Crushed rhizomes, both fresh and dried, are very aromatic with a fragrant, somewhat pungent smell similar to orris root but more powerful. In Manipur, the rhizome is cooked to prepare chutney. "Abir", a fragrant coloured powder marketed for religious ceremonies, is prepared from its dried rhizomes. In Himachal Pradesh, leaves are used in making mats for the home, combined with wheat straw, enhancing the durability of the product. The aromatic dried root of this plant is often used as an incense in Ethiopia. The essential oil has a fragrance somewhat like hyacinths with a long-lasting scent.

References

External links

Flowers of India
Flora of China Flora of Assam (region) Flora of East Himalaya Flora of Nepal Flora of West Himalaya Flora of Myanmar Flora of Thailand Flora of Ethiopia Plants described in 1811 spicatum {{Zingiberales-stub