Back to photostream

wild turmeric flower - happy 4th of july to all my american friends

EXPLORE # 471 JULY 4TH 2009....thank you everyone

Wild Turmeric (Curcuma aromatica) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae.

Wild tumeric is an aromatic and pretty ginger with stout underground rhizomes. Foliage dies down in late in autumn and the rhizomes remain dormant in winter. The inflorescence appears in early spring from the base of the rhizome. Flowers are pinkish white in color, with an orange lip. The stalk grows to about 8 to 10 inches tall, and is crowned with enlarged colored bracts tipped with pink. Leaves appear after the flowers. When in full growth the plants can reach a height of about 3ft tall. Leaves are broad and very decorative, elliptic, 3-4 ft long, and 20 cm wide, leaf-stalk being as long as the blade. Turmeric has a long tradition of use in the Chinese and Ayurvedic systems of medicine, particularly as an anti-inflammatory agent, and for the treatment of flatulence, jaundice, menstrual difficulties, hematuria, hemorrhage, and colic. Turmeric can also be applied topically in poultices to relieve pain and inflammation.

 

 

 

8,771 views
11 faves
36 comments
Uploaded on July 4, 2009
Taken on July 4, 2009