malayavach :

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Streptophyta
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Alpinia
Species: Alpinia galanga

Allied species:

Galangal is from the same family as ginger, the Zingiberaceae, but the species are not equivalent, and also should not be confused with the unrelated "galingale" from the genus Cyperus

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: Sugandhmula, Malaya, Vacha, Mahabharivacha
English: java glangal , Photo: Krishan Lal Common name: Thai Ginger, siamese ginger, Greater Galangal
Hindi: Kulanjan, Kulinjan
Urdu: Kukanjan
Telugu: Dumparasstamu
Bengali: Kulanjana, Kurachivach
Marathi: Kulinjan
Gujarathi: Kolijan
Tamil: Arattai
Malayalam: Aratta, Cifarratta
Kannada: Dhomraasmi
Punjabi: Kulanjan
Sindhi: Kathi
Arabic: Khalanjan, Adkham, Galangal, Kulnjan,Kholongan,Gorengal
Assamese: Khulanjana
Chinese: Liyaang
Burma: Padagoji
Persian: Khurdwari

Varities:

Alpinia galanga (L.) Sw. (Zingiberaceae) is commonly known by various names as galangal, greater galangal, Java galangal and Siamese ginger (English). The related species are A. officinarum Hance and A. calcarata Rosc., which are known as lesser galangal. All the three species have more or less similar properties and uses and hence in trade practically no distinction is made among them.