The physiology of Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep. as a basis for the improvement of ornamental production

Distribution and morphologyCurcuma is one of the largest genera in the Zingiberaceae family.This genus is in the tribe Zingibereae, which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India to South China, Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia.Thailand seems to be one of the areas richest in this genus (Larsen and Larsen, 2006;Sirirugsa et al., 2007).Approximately 38 species of Curcuma are now found in Thailand, separated into 5 groups, i.e., 1) the "Alismatifolia" group of eight species, C. alismatifolia, C. gracillima, C. harmandii, C. parviflora, C. rhabdota, C. sparganiifolia and two new species, found in the northeastern and eastern region; 2) the "Cochinchinensis" group of two species, C. cochinchinensis and C. pierreana, distributed in the north, southwest and eastern regions; 3) the "Ecomata" group of seven species, C. bicolor, C. ecomata, C. flaviflora, C. glans, C. singularis, C. stenochila and one new species, distributed in the northern, northeastern, eastern and southeastern regions; 4) the "Longa" group of thirteen species, C. aeruginosa, C. amada, C. angustifolia, C. aromatic, C. comosa, C. latifolia, C. leucorrhiza, C. longa, C. mangga, C. rubescens, C. viridiflora, C. zanthorrhiza and C. zedoaria, found widely in the north; and 5) the "Petiolata" group of eight species, C. aurantiaca, C. petiolata, C. roscoeana, C. rubrobracteata and four new species, found from the north to the peninsula along the western ranges (Sirirugsa et al., 2007).Unlike C. longa (tumeric), C. zedoaria, C. aromatic, etc., which are species generally used as medicinal plants (Sabu German Society for Horticultural Science