''Kaempferia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the ginger family. It is native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels. ''A ...

, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and was one of the first Europeans to write detailed descriptions of plants there.

Species

Over 100 names have been proposed in the genus. The following are accepted: * ''

Kaempferia alboviolacea ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and ...

'' Ridl. - Vietnam * ''

Kaempferia angustifolia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and ...

'' Roscoe - Bangladesh, Assam, Vietnam, Thailand, Sumatra * '' Kaempferia attapeuensis'' Picheans. & Koonterm - Laos * ''

Kaempferia champasakensis ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Picheans. & Koonterm - Laos * '' Kaempferia chayanii'' Koonterm - Laos * ''

Kaempferia cuneata ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Gagnep. - Vietnam * ''

Kaempferia elegans ''Kaempferia elegans'', commonly known as the silver spot, is a shade-loving ginger that has 6" round leaves with three rows of silver spots arranged across them. It has small purple flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is ...

'' (Wall.) Baker in J.D.Hooker - Sichuan, Indochina, Borneo * '' Kaempferia evansii'' Blatt. - southern India * '' Kaempferia fallax'' Gagnep. - Laos, Thailand * ''

Kaempferia filifolia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' K.Larsen - Thailand * '' Kaempferia fissa'' Gagnep. - Laos * ''

Kaempferia galanga ''Kaempferia galanga'', commonly known as kencur, aromatic ginger, sand ginger, cutcherry, is a monocotyledonous plant in the ginger family, and one of four plants called galangal. It is found primarily in open areas in Indonesia, southern Ch ...

'' L. - Yunnan, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Indochina * '' Kaempferia gigantiphylla'' Picheans. & Koonterm - Laos * '' Kaempferia gilbertii'' W.Bull - Myanmar * '' Kaempferia glauca'' Ridl. - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia grandifolia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Saensouk & Jenjitt. - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia harmandiana ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Gagnep. - Laos, Cambodia *''

Kaempferia jenjittikuliae ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' - Thailand *''

Kaempferia koratensis ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Picheans. - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia laotica ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Gagnep. - Laos, Thailand * ''

Kaempferia larsenii ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Sirirugsa - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia lopburiensis ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Picheans. - Thailand *''

Kaempferia maculifolia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Boonma & Saensouk -Thailand * ''

Kaempferia mahasarakhamensis ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Saensouk & P. Saensouk - Thailand *''

Kaempferia nigrifolia ''Kaempferia nigrifolia'' is a plant species in the genus ''Kaempferia'' subgenus ''kaempferia'' found in Nakhon Nayok Province and Saraburi Province, Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom ...

'' Boonma & Saensouk - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia ovalifolia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Roxb. - Myanmar * ''

Kaempferia parviflora ''Kaempferia parviflora'', the Thai black ginger, Thai ginseng or ''krachai dum'', is an herbaceous plant in the family Zingiberaceae, native to Thailand. Kaempferia parviflora has been the subject of increased scientific interest in recent years ...

'' Wall. ex Baker in J.D.Hooker - Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia * '' Kaempferia philippinensis'' Merr. - Luzon * '' Kampferia pseudoparviflora'' Saensouk and Saensouk - Thailand * '' Kaempferia purpurea'' J.Koenig in A.J.Retzius - Phuket * '' Kaempferia roscoeana'' Wall. - Myanmar, Thailand * ''

Kaempferia rotunda ''Kaempferia rotunda'' is a plant species in the ginger family. It is native to China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan), the Indian subcontinent (including Assam, Nepal and Bangladesh), Indochina, and widely cultivated elsewhere. It i ...

'' L. - China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan), India, Nepal, Assam, Bangladesh, Indochina; naturalized in Java, Malaysia and Costa Rica * '' Kaempferia saraburiensis'' Picheans. - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia sawanensis ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Picheans. & Koonterm - Laos * '' Kaempferia siamensis'' Sirirugsa - Thailand * '' Kaempferia simaoensis'' Y.Y.Qian - Yunnan * '' Kaempferia sisaketensis'' Picheans. & Koonterm - Thailand * '' Kaempferia spoliata'' Sirirugsa - Thailand *'' Kaempferia takensis'' Boonma & Saensouk - Thailand * ''

Kaempferia undulata ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'' Teijsm. & Binn. - Java

Research

Three species of ''Kaempferia'', i.e., ''K. galanga, K. rotunda'', and ''K. angustifolia'', are well studied for their essential oils along with other important phytochemical and medicinal properties. The micropropagation procedures of ''K. galanga'' and ''K. rotunda'' have been studied by many groups for more than two decades, but ''in vitro'' propagation of ''Kaempferia angustifolia'' was the first reported in 2018.Haque SM, Ghosh B. (2018) Micropropagation of ''Kaempferia angustifolia'' Roscoe - An Aromatic, Essential Oil Yielding, Underutilized Medicinal Plant of Zingiberaceae Family. J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 21 (2):147-153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-017-0051-0

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2699485 Zingiberaceae genera