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GALANGAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 392 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GALANGAL , formerly written " galingale," and sometimes " garingal," rhizome galangae (Arab. Kholinjan ;' Ger. Galgantwurzel; Fr. See also:

Racine de Galanga), a See also:drug, now obsolete, with an aromatic See also:taste like that of mingled See also:ginger and See also:pepper. Lesser galangal See also:root, radix galangae minoris, the See also:ordinary galangal of See also:commerce, is the dried rhizome of Alpinia officinarum, a plant of the natural See also:order Zingiberaceae, growing in the See also:Chinese See also:island of See also:Hainan, where it is cultivated, and probably also in the See also:woods of the See also:southern provinces of See also:China. The plant is closely allied to Alpinia calcarata, the rhizome of which is sold in the bazaars of some parts of See also:India as a sort of galangal. Its stems attain a length of about 4 ft., and its leaves are slender, lanceolate and See also:light-See also:green, and have a hot taste; the See also:flowers are See also:white with red See also:veins, and in See also:simple racemes; the roots See also:form dense masses, sometimes more than a See also:foot in See also:diameter; and the rhizomes grow horizontally, and are 4 in. or less in thickness. Galangal seems to have been unknown to the See also:ancient Greeks and See also:Romans, and to have been first introduced into See also:Europe by Arabian physicians. It is mentioned in the writings of See also:Ibn Khurdadbah, an Arabian geographer who flourished in the latter See also:half of the 9th See also:century, and " gallengar " (gallingale or galangal) is one of the ingredients in an Anglo-Saxon See also:receipt for a " wen salve " (see O. Cockayne, Saxon Leechdoms, vol. iii. p.13). In the See also:middle ages, as at See also:present in See also:Livonia, See also:Esthonia and central See also:Russia, galangal was in esteem in Europe both as a See also:medicine and a spice, and in China it is still employed as a therapeutic See also:agent. Its See also:chief See also:consumption is in Russia, where it is used as a See also:cattle-medicine, and as a flavouring for See also:liqueurs.

End of Article: GALANGAL

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