Kaempferia involucrata King ex Baker in J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 221. 1890.

Rhizomes brown-yellow inside, ca. 1 cm in diam., strongly fragrant; roots expanded into globose tubers at apex. Leaves erect; petiole 6--18 cm; leaf blade green or purplish, obovate-oblong or lanceolate, 10--18 × 2--3.5 cm. Peduncle 2.5--10 cm; involucre erect, 4--5 × 2--2.5 cm, apex 2- or 3-lobed, with small, brown, glandular spots; bracteoles linear, ca. 1.5 cm, membranous. Calyx 0.9--1.1 cm. Corolla tube 2.5--2.7 cm; lobes ca. 1.2 cm, central one apiculate at apex. Lateral staminodes oblanceolate, 1.6--2 cm × ca. 4 mm. Labellum white with a central, yellow blotch, spatulate, ca. 2 × 1.3 cm, apex emarginate. Filament ca. 2 mm; anther ca. 5 mm; connective appendage semiorbicular, ca. 3 cm. Ovary ovoid, ca. 3.5 mm. Style linear; stigma ciliate. Fl. May--Jun. 2 n = 22.

Medicinal.

Forest floors, mountain slopes, also cultivated. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan [N India, Myanmar, ?Sikkim, Thailand].