Bitterroot Restoration

Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Common name: Shoti(Beng.); Indian arrowroot, Zedoary(Eng.).
Life cycle: perennial
Native Range: Curcuma zedoaria is native to India and Indonesia.

Curcuma zedoaria (Zedoary) is the name for a perennial herb and member of the genus Curcuma. It is a rhizome that grows in tropical and subtropical wet forest regions. The fragrant plant bears yellow flowers with red and green bracts and the underground stem section is large and tuberous with numerous branches. The leaf shoots of the Curcuma zedoaria are long and can reach 1 metre (3 feet) in height.

Curcuma zedoaria is  used in some traditional eastern medicines where it is reputed to be an aid to digestion, a relief for colic and an agent for purifying the blood. It is also used as an antivenom for the indian cobra.