malayavach :
Morphology:
Tender perennial herb, aromatic, up to 2.5m high with 1.0m spread; with thick
fragrant tuberous rootstocks, resembling the scent of ginger, from which the new
shoots sprout in the spring .Leaves linear- lanceolate, alternating, produced on reedy
stems with fringed borders 15-25x3-6 cm ; white sheath, long ligule rounded .
Inflorescence racemose, tubular flowers bisexual, produced in pendulous panicles on
a separate leafless peduncle, with large ovate white bracts, perianth tremors , one
stamen and three carples, red in color with whitish pink or yellow labellum, The
fruits are red berries; seeds obtusely angular and aromatic.
Histology:
Transverse section of the rhizome shows the epidermal cells which are covered by a
thick smooth cuticle. The cells are anticlinal with straight moderately thick almost
beaded cell walls. The outer cortex consists of two or three layers of more or less
collapsed small cells that contain pigments. The inner cortex consists of large rounded
to oval parenchymatous cells with various sizes. The majority of cells are densely
starch-filled and the grains are club-shaped slightly curved somewhat flattened and
the smaller grains are ovoid or rounded. Interspersed throughout the cortex are
numerous cells partially or completely filled with dark reddish-brown amorphous
masses. Few cells contain pale yellowish volatile oil. Vascular bundles exist
throughout the cortex and they contain angular-shaped vessels that are reticulately and
spirally thickened. The endodermis consists of small uniform parenchymatous starchfree cells and the cells of the pericycle are small and collapsed.(Anonymous1996;
Bisset 2001) .
