Variability studies in ‘Peacock Ginger’, Kaempferia elegans Wall. (Zingiberaceae)

Abstract

Kaempferia elegans, commonly called ‘Peacock Gingers’ is a plant comes under the family Zingiberaceae got wide popularity among floriculturists due to its very attractive patterned foliage and purple coloured flowers. The plant is widely adapted to tropical climate and grown all over India, Myanmar and Malaysia. The present study carried out to understand the variations of plants collected from different localities of South India. All the accessions were conserved in the Calicut University Botanical Garden, Malappuram, Kerala and same was used for variability studies. Different vegetative and floral characters are observed on maturity, analyzed and recorded. Various steps involved in domestication and different propagation methods are also discussed.