Zingiber purpureum – Cassumunar Ginger

Larval Host Plant

Notocrypta curvifascia – Restricted Demon
Notocrypta feisthamelii – Spotted Demon
Udaspes folus – Grass Demon

bw309 , bw308

Other notes

Other Name Combinations: Zingiber cassumunar (WFO, 2023).

 

Taxonomic Information: This plant was previously treated as Zingiber montanum. According to Bai et al. (2020), Zingiber montanum is a distinct species from the Cassumunar Ginger, therefore Z. purpureum is retained as the oldest valid name, and Z. Casumuner is used as a synonym for the species.

 

Natural History: Native Rhizomatous Herb.
Ginger-like, perennial herb growing from underground rhizomes. Flowers are pale yellow and borne on purplish-brown flowering spikes. Rhizome is yellow inside with strong aromatic smell. It is a highly medicinal plant, commonly known as Cassumunar or Casumunar Ginger (Flowers of India, 2023).

 

References:
Bai, L., B.R. Maslin, P. Triboun, N. Xia, and J Leong-Skornickova. (2020). Unravelling the identity and nomenclatural history of Zingiber montanum, and establishing Z. purpureum as the correct name for Cassumunar ginger. Taxon, 68(6): 1334-1349. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12160
Flowers of India (2023): Cassumunar Ginger. Accessed on 16 Jan 2023. URL: https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Cassumunar%20Ginger.html.
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550 [cited as Zingiber montanum]
Robinson, G.S., P.R. Ackery, I. Kitching, G.W. Beccaloni, and L.M. Hernández. (2023). HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum. https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/hosts/resource/877f387a-36a3-486c-a0c1-b8d5fb69f85a [cited as Zingiber casumunar]
WFO (2023): Zingiber purpureum Roscoe. Accessed on 16 Jan 2023. URL: http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000617751.

Page citation

Churi, P. and N. Kawthankar. 2024. Zingiber purpureum Roscoe – Cassumunar Ginger. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/zingiber-purpureum, accessed 2024/04/29.