Curcuma is a rhizome forming herb, rhizome ovoid-conical, pale yellow-white. Roots are fleshy, root-tubers 2.5-3 x 2 cm, ovoid, white inside. Leafy shoots are 1-2 ft tall. Leaves are distichous, 2-4, blade 10-30 x 5-15 cm, broadly ovate, base slightly heart-shaped, tip triangular with a small cusp, hairless. Inflorescences are both lateral and central; peduncle 6-10 cm long. Flower produced in spike. Bracts are many lower green with purple tip, upper deep purple-pink. Flowers 1 or 2 in each bract. Calyx 1-1.2 cm long, truncate, tip shortly 3-lobed, white with pink spots, minutely pubescent. Corolla tube 2 cm long, funnel-shaped, deep purple.

Flowering: July–September