Amomum mioga Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14, 51. 1784; Zingiber echuanense Y. K. Yang; Z. oligophyllum K. Schumann.

Rhizomes yellowish. Ligule 2-lobed, 3--12 mm, membranous; petiole absent to 1.7 cm; leaf blade lanceolate-elliptic or linear-lanceolate, 20--37 × 4--6 cm, glabrous or abaxially pilose, apex caudate. Inflorescences arising from rhizomes, ellipsoid, 5--7 cm; peduncle absent to 17 cm, scalelike sheaths oblong; bracts reddish green with purple veins, elliptic. Calyx 2.5--3 cm. Corolla tube longer than calyx; lobes yellowish, lanceolate, 2.7--3 cm × ca. 7 mm. Labellum ovate, ca. 3 cm; central lobe yellow with white margin, ca. 2.5 × 1.8 cm; lateral lobes ca. 1.3 cm × 4 mm. Anther ca. 1 cm; connective appendage ca. 1 cm. Capsule obovoid, loculicidally dehiscent; pericarp red inside. Seeds black; aril white. Fl. Aug--Oct. 2 n = 22.

Medicinal and a vegetable.

Moist places in mountain valleys; rarely cultivated. Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan].