PREPARED BY SAUDHA (II M.Sc. Botany) ,THRISSUR ,KERALA ABOUT THE FAMILY ZINGIBERACEAE REFERENCE: O P SHARMA

1. ZINGIBERACEAE
Ginger family
SAUDHA V.U
II M.Sc. Botany

2. MONOCOTYLEDONS
EPIGYNAE
ZINGIBERACEAE

3. WHY THIS FAMILY ?
• SPICES AND CONDIMENTS
1. Amomum cardamon (Cardamon)
2. Elettaria cardamomum (Elayachi)
3. Alpinia officinarum
4. Curcuma longa
5. Zingiber officinale

4. Amomum cardamomum

5. Elettaria cardamomum

6. Alpinia officinarum

7. Zingiber officinale

8. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
• Scented powder
Hedychium spicatum – Abir Abir
• Used as tonic – Zedoaria
Curcuma zedoaria
• Cultivated ornamentals
Alpinia , Brachychium ,Cardamon ,Cautleya
,Costus

9. FIELD RECOGNITION
• Aromatic herbs
• Ligule present at the top of leaf sheath
• Perianth differentiated into calyx and corolla
• Only single stamen
• Staminodes petaloid .

10. Selected Indian Genera
• Amomum
•
• Curcuma
• Elettaria
• Zingiber

11. DISTRIBUTION
• Genus – 49 , Species – 1000
• Distribution – Tropical regions(Indomalaysia).
• 17 genara and over 115 species from India.
(Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas )

12. Etlingera elator

13. HABIT
• Perennial
• Aromatic herbs
• Sympodial tuberous
• Horizontal rhizome
• Aerial stem if present , too short

14. LEAVES
• Alternate , Sessile or Petiolate
• Distichous or Spirally arranged
• Sheathing leaf base
• Ligulate
• Ligules present at the junction of blade with
petiole or sheath
• Leaf blade large
• Parallel pinnate venation

15. INFLORESCENCE
Variable from
• Compact Spike (Alpinia)
• Raceme (Curcuma )
• Panicle (Globba )

16. FLOWER
• Bracteate
• Pedicellate or sessile
• Bisexual
• Zygomorphic rarely actinomorphic
• Trimerous ,epigynous ,large ,brightly coloured
usually aromatic or fragrant
• Perianth differentiated into calyx and corolla .

17. CALYX
• 3 united sepals forming tubular or spathiform
• Green or herbaceous calyx
• The odd sepal is anterior
• Calyx tube is very short in Globba and splitted
in Roscoea

18. COROLLA
• 3 unequal lobed petals
• Free or more or less united into a tubular
corolla
• The posterior lobe usually the largest
• Delicate and usually showy

19. ANDROECIUM
• Basically 6 stamens in 2 whorls of 3 each
• 2 lateral stamens of outer whorl modify into
staminodes
• 3rd anterior stamen of the this whorl is
usually highly suppressed .

20. • Fertile stamen is 2 celled ,usually epipetalous
with its filament usually slender and deeply
grooved

21. GYNOECIUM
• OVARY -Tricarpellary , syncarpous ,epigynous with
numerous anatropous ovules
• Axile placentation
• Unilocular with 3 - many ovules - Parietal
placentation (Globba)

22. GYNOECIUM
• STYLE – Usually filiform and more or less
enveloped in the groove of filament of fertile
stamen
• STIGMA –Protruding beyond the anther lobes
• Nectar secreting gland present

23. FRUITS AND SEEDS
• FRUITS – 3 valved ,loculicidal capsule or
rarely fleshy ,indehiscent ,berry –like
• SEEDS –Arillate , each with straight embryo
and abundant endosperm

24. FLORAL FORMULA & FLORAL DIAGRAM
Br,Ф,O K(3),C (3), A 1 , G (3)