PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON CHINESE CURCUMA Ⅰ. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PLANTS

Of the Curcuma plant we have found 8 species in China. They are: Curcuma longa Linn., C. aeruginosa Rosc., C. kwangsinensis S. G. Lee et C. F. Liang sensu amplo, C. aromatica Salisb., C. wenyujin Y. H. Chen et C. Ling, C. angustifolia Roxb, C. elata Roxb. and Curcuma sp. Among these C. wenyujin is described in this paper as a new species.The botanical origin of Chinese drugs Chiang-Huang etc. includes the following 5 species: Jiang-Huang (姜黄) is the rhizoma of C. longa and C. wenyujin; Yu-Chin (郁金) the root tuber of C. longa, C. wenyujin, Curcuma sp., C. aeruginosa and C. kwangsinensis; E-Zhu (莪术) the main rhizoma of C. kwangsinensis, C. wenyujin, C. aeruginosa and Curcuma sp.