Hedychium spicatum BUCH.-HAM.

Family : Zingiberaceae

English Name : Spiked Ginger-Lily

Origin : Western and Central Himalayas

Description

It is a perennial herb. Leaves are oblong or oblong-lanceolate and may be 30.0 cm long or more. Flowers are white and are borne in dense and 30.0 cm long spikes. Corolla - tube is 5.0-6.0 cm long; segments linear. Lip is cuneate, deeply 2-fid and nearly sessile with rounded lobes. Filament is pale red; anthers linear. The capsules are glabrous and globose.

Habitat

Hilly areas and sometimes found on rocky slopes; eastern India and the hills of the central Himalayas and southern India.

Parts Used : Rhizome and essential oil

Herb Effects

The rootstock is carminative, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic and tonic. Vasodilator, alleviates spasms, hypoglycemic, antiasthmatic, antiinflammatory and stimulant (rhizome); anthelmintic and antimicrobial (essential oil from rhizome).

Active Ingredients

Gamma-terpinene, cineol, beta-phellanderene, beta-terpineol and limonene (essential oil of rhizome); sitosterol and its glucoside (rhizome).

Medicinal Use

In liver problems, asthma, bronchitis, as a stimulant, antiinflammatory and for increasing the secretion of gastric juices (rhizome). It is useful in the treatment of liver complaints, and is also used in treating vomiting, diarrhoea, inflammation, pains and snake bite.

Reference