Turmeric
Curcuma longa L.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 99 cm
- wide
- 1.1 m
Zingiberaceae
Also called Common turmeric
Formerly Amomum curcuma, Amomum latifolium, Curcuma brog, Curcuma domestica, and 3 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- As a cultigen from SW. IndiaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 99 cmRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–4 ft; Wikipedia 1–1 m
- Spread
- 91 cm to 1.2 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- White, yellowRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Coldest it survives
- -12.2 °C (USDA zone 8a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Indonesian
- Kunyit
- Chinese
- 薑黃, 姜黄
- Portuguese
- açafrão-da-terra, cúrcuma, Cúrcuma
- Estonian
- harilik kollajuur, harilik kurkum, harilik kurkuma
- Hawaiian
- ʻŌlena
- Finnish
- maustekurkuma
- Japanese
- ウコン, 秋ウコン, 赤ウコン
- Spanish
- Cúrcuma
- root
- tjitima, kesol, हलेदो
- Chinese (China)
- 姜黄, 鬯草
- Italian
- Curcuma, Zafferano delle indie, Turmerico
- Turkish
- zerdeçal
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Curcuma longa (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.