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Alpinia officinarum Hance
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English Name |
Galangal, |
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Latin name |
Alpinia officinarum Hance |
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Family & Genus |
Zingiberaceae, Alpinia |
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Description |
Perennial herbs, plant up to 1.1m. Rhizomes cylindrical, horizontal growing, brown-red, diameter 1-1.5cm, with joints, with annular membranous scales on joints, root borne on joints. Leaves linear, 20-30cm long, 3-10cm wide, apex tail tipped, base gradually narrow, glabrous on both sides, sessile, ligules thinly membranous, lanceolate, 2-3cm long, margin entire. Racemes acrogenous, erect, 6-10cm long, rachis pubescent, peduncles 1-2mm long, bracteoles extremely small, shorter than 1mm, calyx tube 0.8-1cm long, pubescent, corolla tube slightly shorter than calyx tube, lobes oblong, ca. 1.5cm long, back 1 pouch-like, labellums ovate, ca. 2cm long, white, with red stripes, pleurogenous degenerative stamens cone-like, 1 stamen on maturation, ca. 1.6cm long, borne above throat of corolla tube, ovary 3-chambered, densely pubescent, style slender, below base with 2 connate cylindrical nectary, stigmas 2, lip-shaped, filaments ca. 1cm long, anthers 6mm long. Capsules spherical, diameter ca. 1cm, red when mature, seeds with aril, with blunt edges, brown. Flowering: April to September, fruiting: May to November. |
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Distribution |
Growing in thickets of barren slopes or in thin forests. Distributed in Guangdong, Hainan and South Guangxi. The medicinal materials are produced in Guangdong, Hainan, and Guangxi; also cultivated in Taiwan and Yunnan. |
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Part Used |
Medical part: rhizomes or stem. Chinese name: Gaoliangjiang. |
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Harvest & Processing |
Excavated rhizome of 4-6 years old in later summer and early autumn, removed the aboveground stem and fibrils, well washed, cut into section and sun-dried. |
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Chemistry |
Mainly contains Diphenyl-heptane flavonoid and volatile oil compands. |
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Pharmacology |
Anti-bacterial, thrombosis-delaying, blood-coagulation-inhibiting and pain-relieving. Toxic. |
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Properties & Actions |
Pungent, hot.Warming the middle for dispersing cold, regulating qi-flowing for suppressing pains. |
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Indications & Usage |
Cold pain of gastric cavity and abdomen, vomiting, ructation.Oral administration: decocting, 3-6g; or made as pills pr powders. |
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Examples |
1. Treat cardialgia and splenodynia: galangal, file smoothly, slightly parch, and pestle into powders. Take 1 qian with rice water.
2. Treat gastric cold, indigestion, vomiting and regurgitation: galangal and orange peel in equal amounts, grind into a powder, prepare honey pills of semen firmianae size. Take 1 pill under fasting state.
3. Treat splenogastric asthenia, fullness and vomiting: galangal and aucklandia root pestled into powders, decoct 1 qian galangal and 0.5 qian aucklandia root with a cup of water each time, concentrate until 70% remains, cool down, drink with the residues gradually. NO ironware for decocting. |
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