1258 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



(Mar.); dr. rt.^sunt, fr. rt. = adu (Guz.); dr. rt. = shukku, fr. 

 rt. = inji (Tain.); Pl. = allam, dr. rt.=sonti, allam, fr. rt = allam 

 (Tel.) ; dr. rt.— vana-sunthi, fr. rt.=hasisuiithi (Kan.) ; dr. rt.= 

 chukka, fr. rt. — inchi (Mai.); PI. = khyen-seing, dr. rt.=ginsi- 

 khiav, fr. rt. =gin sin (Bur.) ; dr. rt. = velicha-inguru, fr. rt.= 

 amu-inguru (Sing.) ; dr. rt. — zanjabil, zanjabile-yabis, fr. rt.= 

 zanjabile-ratab (Ar.) dr. rt. = zanjabil-e-khushk, fr. rt.= 

 zanjabil-e-tar (Per.). 



Habitat :— Cultivated throughout India. 



Root-stock bi-ennial, bearing many, sessile, aromatic tubers, 

 Leafy stems 3-4ft. Leaves 6-3 by lin., tapering gradually 

 to the point, lanceolate dark-green, glabrous beneath. 

 Spike 2-3 by lin., oblong, cylindric. Peduncle J-lft. Bracts 

 about lin., greenish, sub-orbicular, cuspidate. Corolla segments 

 lanceolate, greenish, subequal, under one inch long. Lip small, 

 purplish-black, shorter than the corolla-segments. Midlobe 

 orbicular, lateral ovate. Stamens dark-purple, as long as the 

 lip. " Very rarely flowers, and has never seen seed." (Rox- 

 burgh.) 



Uses :— Ginger is officinal in the British as well as Indian 

 Pharmacopoeia. Its uses are too well known to be detailed here. 



1245. Z. .Zerumbet, Smith, h.f.b.l. vi., 247. 

 Roxb. 17. 



Sans. : — Sthula-granthi. 



Vem. :-.— Mahabari bach; Nar-kachur (H. & B.); Kachur, 

 narkachur (Pb.) ; Kathu-inshi-kua (Mai.). 



Habitat : — Widely cultivated throughout India. 



Herbs. Root-stock very large, tuberous, pale-yellow within, 

 hard, bi-annual, root- fibres vermiform. Leafy stem 5-6ft., 

 about Jin. cliam., cylindric, glabrous, annual. Leaves 10-12 

 by 2-3in , sessile, oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, acuminate, 

 glabrous; base narrowed, ligule, i-fin. long, truncate mem- 

 branous. Flowering stem 12-18iu., stout, usually flexuous, 

 clothed with long appressed obtuse sheaths, with sometimes 

 rudimentary blades. Spikes 3-4in. by 2in. diam., conico- 



