Wondered if anyone was growing this? I could kick myself as I had a golden opportunity to get a good lot of this and didn't.
I found it growing in two lovely terracotta pots outside someones door way in Bangkok and it drove me mad trying to ID it as the flowers are so tiny and short lived. By the time I go there every day the delicate hidden flowers had wilted as it was growing happily in full sun and Bangkok is HOT. Anyway I didn't ID it but the owner in overwhelming generosity pulled up three divisions for me. I didn't think it was a Kaempferia at first, far too sturdy, and the leaves plicate and broad standing two foot. I thought just maybe a very robust form of K. elegance but was leaning heavily towards Boesenbergia and befuddlement.
Back home before I planted it, after a delayed flight and all wrapped in it's damp news-paper it flowered! So yes I could positively ID it as K. parviflora.
It's a very useful and attractive Kaempferia, very much like one of the more attractive Hostas except sturdier and certainly also sturdier than any other Kaempferia's which tend to flop around on the floor particularly after rain, they also tend to stay on the floor. It's also nice and large, arching up nicely to about 2foot tall. The back of the lovely broad plicate leaves have an attractive waxy bloom and the margins are beautifully and closely wavy. The edges of the leaf are also paler particularly in the full sun which is charming as that also highlights the wavy margins . Apparently there is a reddish one, new shoots are red and so are the back of the leaves but I have not seen that one. Im in love with the bright lovely fecund green of this one which is an even more attractive bright green in full sun where it thrives if you have good humidity. It can also take lots of shade apparently.
I discovered after ID'ing it that it's quite a popular crop plant and is grown in large fields as the rhizome which is black is meant to bestow power, energy and virility. I could've probably found bags of it in any supermarket, sigh.
It would look very nice in a large bed as a ground cover, and is also very attractive in pots. Now I know what it is and that I can grow it with ease I will certainly be getting a lot more!
Not from the net though as I see there are chancers marketing it as a natural viagra and asking up to 30$US for a tiny marble of a rhizome!
