Curcuma aromatica Salisb.

 
  • Family : ZINGIBERACEAE
    (Ginger Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : HALDI FAMILY (हल्दी फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Zingiberaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.Chen & C.Ling; Curcuma zedoaria Roxb.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Curcuma aromatica Salisb.
  • Common name : Wild Turmeric, Cochin Turmeric, Yellow Zedoary
  • Vernacular name :
    • Ban-haridhra, Junglee-haldi (Hindi)
    • Kasturi-arishina (Kannada)
    • Aranyaharidhra, Vanaharidhara (Sanskrit)
    • Amba-halad, Ran-haldi (Marathi)
    • Palua, Bono haldi (Oria)
    • Kasturi pasupu (Telugu)
    • Kasthurimanjal, Kattumanjal, Kattumannar, Pullakizhangu (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Grows wild in degraded forests, and in plantations
  • Comments / notes : Cultivated
  • Key identification features : Rhizomatous, strongly aromatic herbs; Rhizomes greyish outside and yellow inside; Leaves oblong, silky pubescent beneath; Flowers in spike on separate, leafy shoots; upper bracts mauve; corolla pink.
  • Flower, Fruit : May-September
  • Collector(s) Name : Cecil J. Saldanha
  • Collection Date : 23/05/1980
  • Collection Nos : KFP 11552, KFP 11567
  • Collection Locality : Charmadi ghat, Dakshina Kannada district; Near Padubidri, Dakshina Kannada district
  • Distribution :
    • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
    • Maharashtra : Mumbai Suburban district, Satara district, Sindhudurg district, Pune district
    • Odisha : Wild and cultivated
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng, Lohit
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3
    • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
    • B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state – Monocotyledons
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Materials for Flora of Arunachal Pradesh. Volume 3, Botanical Survey of India, 2009. Pg.: 172
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Curcuma aromatica
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Curcuma aromatica. Downloaded on 25 February 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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