Description
Shell ginger or atumo from its scientific name Alpinia zerumbet is a perennial plant of the Zingiberaceae family native to eastern Asia. It is also called the tropical tuberous rhizome.
It owes its local name Atoumo ("A-tous-maux" that means in english to all ills) to its many virtues in particular to fight all kinds of flu. It is a tropical rhizome with the scent of cinnamon that grows in clumps of 30 to 60 cm.
The green leaves are large and imposing. The flowers are yellow with red streaks inside and bloom protective white with a pinkish tip.
Therapeutic virtues
It is a plant very present in Martinique and in the Lesser Antilles. Moreover, it is often said that "there is not a house in the West Indies that does not have the atumo plant nearby."
It is a tropical plant but which resists winter temperatures down to -10°C.
If one might believe that the shell ginger is a plant dedicated to ornament, the plant is better known for its medicinal properties such as improving the flu-like condition, digestion, and balancing blood pressure.
Its major asset is its richness in bactericidal essential oil and antioxidants.
It is also recommended against hangovers and flatulence. To do this, we pick the flowers and leaves and infuse them with lime, the broken leaf and a red poppy bud. This tea or infusion is preferably consumed with honey and without the use of sugar. It is drunk very hot.
You would need to drink 3 to 4 glasses a day to end the flu.
This tea is also recommended against stomach ulcers. For this, you must take a decoction of the rhizome (the roots) of the atumo plant.
A decoction of the leaves can be used to relieve fever. Its tea or infusion has hypotensive, antioxidant, diuretic and anti-ulcerogenic properties.
How to grow it
Its cultivation is very easy and does not require a lot of maintenance. However, growth remains slow at the start and then very fast.
It is not recommended to plant it in winter, especially if the temperatures are negative.
