Zingiberaceae FAMILY

Curcuma zanthorrhiza

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial

Growth—

Plants are adapted to growing in areas of seasonal drought in monsoonal forests^[1]. Prefers slightly shady conditions and demands a moist, fertile soil rich in humus^[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe^[1]. Germinates best at temperatures around 20°c^[1]. Division of the rhizome when the plant is dormant. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Curcuma+zanthorrhiza>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
[3]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
[4]The Gardens' Bulletin, Singapore. Vol. 13 — Government Printing Office, Singapore · 1950 ↩︎A botanical journal, it includes a treatment of the Zingiberaceae of the Malay Peninsula.
[5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[6]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.