kæmpferia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of plants of the order Scitamineæ, natives of tropical Africa, eastern India, and the Malay archipelago, having flowers in spikes with imbricated scales at the apex of short, few-leafed, or leafless and scaly stems; a slender calyx-tube, bearing a curious, irregular, three-lobed corolla; and a single crested stamen whose filament is wrapped about the style. There are about 18 species, several of which are cultivated for ornament, and one, K. Galanga, furnishes one of the drugs known as galangal.