Turmeric - plant profile

Names

Turmeric (English)
Haridra (Sanskrit)
Haldi, halada (Hindi, Bengali, Gujurati, Marathi)
Manjal (Tamil)
Pasapu (Telugu)
Arishina (Kannada).

Botanical name: Curcuma longa
Family: Zingiberaceae, the ginger family

The plant

Turmeric is thought to have come from South and Southeast Asia, probably India. The plants grow as an upright herb to about 1 m tall.

A photograph of a growing turmeric plant.

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Turmeric growing in a garden.

Rhizome - this is a sort of underground stem. It is thick and fleshy, ringed with the bases of old leaves. This is the part which is boiled, dried and ground to make the distinctive bright yellow spice, turmeric. Turmeric only reproduces via its rhizomes.

Leaves - large, oblong, up to 1 m long.

Flowers - these appear on a spike-like stalk. The flowers are yellow-white. They are sterile and do not produce viable seed.