草果 cao guo

Amomum hongtsaoko C. F. Liang & D. Fang.

Plants to 3 m tall, aromatic. Rhizomes gingerlike. Ligule entire, 0.8--1.2 cm, apex obtuse; petiole absent or short; leaf blade narrowly elliptic or oblong, 40--70 × 10--20 cm, glabrous, base attenuate, margin drying membranous, apex acuminate. Spikes 13--18 × ca. 5 cm, 5--30-flowered; peduncle at least 10 cm, scalelike sheaths dense, brown when dry, oblong or narrowly elliptic, 5.5--7 × 2.3--3.5 cm, leathery, apex rounded; bracts lanceolate, ca. 4 cm × 6 mm, apex acuminate; bracteoles tubular, ca. 3 cm, apex 2- or 3-toothed. Calyx equaling bracteoles, apex obtusely 3-toothed. Corolla orange-red; tube ca. 2.5 cm; lobes oblong, ca. 2 cm × 4 mm. Labellum elliptic, ca. 2.7 × 1.4 cm, apex slightly toothed. Anther ca. 1.3 cm; connective appendage 3-lobed, ca. 4 × 11 mm, central lobe quadrilateral, lateral ones narrower. Capsule red, drying brown and longitudinally striate, oblong or elliptic, 2.5--4.5 × ca. 2 cm, glabrous. Seeds 4--6 mm in diam., many angled, strongly aromatic. Fl. Apr--Jun, fr. Sep--Dec. 2 n = 48*.

* Sparse forests; 1100--1800 m. Yunnan.

Both wild and cultivated plants are used for medicine.