Kaempferia galanga

Kaempferia galanga, commonly known as kencur, aromatic ginger, sand ginger, cutcherry or resurrection lily, is a monocotyledonous plant in the ginger family. It is found primarily in open areas in southern China, Taiwan, Cambodia and India, but is also widely cultivated throughout Southeast Asia. The plant is used as a herb in cooking in Indonesia, where it is called 'kencur', and especially in Javanese and Balinese cuisines. Its leaves are used in the Malay rice dish, nasi ulam. Unlike Boesenbergia pandurata (grachai or Chinese key), kaempferia galanga is not commonly used in Thai cuisine but can be bought as a dried rhizome or in powder form at herbal medicine stalls. It is known in Thai as proh horm (เปราะหอม) or waan horm (ว่านหอม). It is also used in Chinese cooking and Chinese medicine and is sold in Chinese groceries under the name Sha Jiang (Chinese: 沙姜; pinyin: shajiang), while the plant itself is referred to as shan nai (Chinese: 山柰; pinyin: shannai). Kaempferia galanga has a peppery camphorous taste. It is one of four plants known as galangal, and is differentiated from the others by the absence of stem and dark brown rounded rhizomes, while the other varieties all have stems and pale rosebrown rhizomes.[citation needed] Lesser galangal properly refers to Alpinia officinarum. In common usage, however, it is also erroneously applied to Kaempferia galanga. Kaempferia galanga is also erronousely called Zedoary.

Uses
The rhizomes of the plant, which contains essential oils, have been used in Chinese medicine as a decoction or powder for treating indigestion, cold, pectoral and abdominal pains, headache and toothache. Its alcoholic maceration has also been applied as liniment for rheumatism.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaempferia_galanga
See Also: flower Malaysia, Malaysia flower, florist KL