✿Zingiberaceae · Alpinia
Kulanjan / Lesser Galangal
Alpinia calcarata
Also known as Snap Ginger
Undershrub
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Alpinia calcarata
- Genus
- Alpinia
- Family
- Zingiberaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Cultivated
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Malay Peninsula, China; Widely cultivated
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Zingiberaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kulanjan itself; the rest are typical of the Zingiberaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- कुलंजन Kulanjan
- Kannada
- Chikkadumparaasme
- Malayalam
- Aratta, ചിറ്റരത്ത, Alpinia calcarata
About Kulanjan
Lesser galangal (Alpinia calcarata) is a low shrub in the Zingiberaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and 5 other states. It is cultivated. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Botanical family
Zingiberaceae
Ginger family
Kulanjan belongs to the Zingiberaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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