Species
+

Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep.

Siam Tulip

Climate known 12 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Curcuma alismatifolia, Siam tulip or summer tulip is a tropical plant native to Laos, northern Thailand, and Cambodia. Despite its name, it is not related to the tulip, but is a close relative of turmeric. It can grow as an indoor plant. It is a perennial herb growing up to 2 feet tall.

Text from Wikipedia, “Curcuma alismatifolia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Curcuma

Curcuma is a genus of plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae that contains such species as turmeric and Siam tulip. They are native to Southeast Asia, southern China, the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea and northern Australia. Some species are reportedly naturalized in other warm parts of the world such as tropical Africa, Central America, Florida, and various islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Curcuma”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Zingiberaceae
Described by
Gagnep.
Native to
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar +2
Wild records
45 in range· 25 open

At a glance

Warmest month
34°C
Apr, mean day; nights 25 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1566mm/yr
9 wet months · peak Sep 298 mm (CHELSA)
Light
29–39DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Curcuma, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a rainy season, May and July to October in the northern hemisphere, at the year's mean temperature, so called neither winter nor summer. Habitat rain 1566 mm a year, wettest September at 298 mm, driest December at 7 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 39 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 16.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Hitcheniopsis alismatifolia (Gagnep.) Loes.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Curcuma, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a rainy season, May and July to October in the northern hemisphere, at the year's mean temperature, so called neither winter nor summer.

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a rainy season with no name: 70% of the year's rain (1160 mm of 1566 mm) falls in May and July to October, whose mean temperature, 27.4 °C, is within half a degree of the year's, 27.2 °C, so it is neither the cooler nor the warmer part of the year. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: January to April and November.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1566 mm a year, wettest September at 298 mm, driest December at 7 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1566 mm a year at the habitat, 1160 mm of it May and July to October. Wettest month September at 298 mm, driest December at 7 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1308 mm to 2012 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 39 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 39 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 16.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 16.9 °C, the absolute minimum 11.2 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.8 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 19.6 °C in December (across the envelope cells 15.6 °C to 21.8 °C), warmest day 34.0 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 16.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER); the archetype table's minimum for a tropical foliage plant, 12 °C, is lower and does not raise it.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 67% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 29 °C in Nov to 34 °C in Apr; mean night from 20 °C in Dec to 25 °C in Apr. The cold quarter, Nov to Jan, is the three months around the coldest night. 1566 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 19 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 11.2 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.8 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°45°40.8° 99th-percentile day (undated)11.2° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 29–39RH 55–67 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 19 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C30 / 27–3132 / 30–3333 / 32–3534 / 32–3532 / 31–3431 / 29–3331 / 29–3230 / 29–3230 / 29–3130 / 28–3129 / 28–3129 / 26–31
Night °C20 / 16–2222 / 18–2424 / 21–2525 / 23–2725 / 24–2624 / 24–2624 / 24–2624 / 24–2523 / 23–2523 / 21–2421 / 18–2320 / 16–22
Rain mm11 / 4–1817 / 11–2743 / 37–6395 / 78–117202 / 174–234184 / 147–297192 / 153–361231 / 184–416298 / 225–348237 / 95–26249 / 11–1147 / 4–27
DLI33 / 32–3536 / 35–3739 / 38–4039 / 38–4034 / 32–3632 / 30–3331 / 29–3330 / 26–3129 / 27–3130 / 28–3031 / 29–3131 / 30–32
RH %55 / 53–5756 / 53–6057 / 54–6059 / 57–6363 / 62–6665 / 62–6866 / 62–6967 / 62–6966 / 64–7063 / 63–6858 / 57–6356 / 53–58

Each figure is the median across the 19 grid cells holding the 22 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1552:5674 (12.375, 103.725). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 11.2 °C, 1st-percentile night 16.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 19 distinct grid cells holding the 22 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1552:5674 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 12.50_103.750, lapse-corrected -80 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 34 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
Kew's description“rhizomatous geophyte” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker13.735, 100.554 · in the densest population, 42 records (93% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 45 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 25 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 133 km away. 10 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 23 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 45 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Curcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifoliaCurcuma alismatifolia

Photographs: (c) Oleg Kosterin, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Arthur Whiting, some rights reserved (CC BY); Oleg Kosterin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (3); Amethyst อเมทิสอเมทิส, CC BY-SA, via GBIF.

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Curcuma alismatifolia, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Antioxidant Capacities and Total Phenolic Contents Enhancement with Acute Gamma Irradiation in Curcuma alismatifolia (Zingiberaceae) Leaves
Sima Taheri, Thohirah Abdullah, Ehsan Karimi, Ehsan Oskoueian (2014) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Postharvest physiology of Curcuma alismatifolia flowers
Kanok Bunya-atichart, Saichol Ketsa, Wouter G. van Doorn (2004) · Postharvest Biology and Technology
Changes in Flower Development, Chlorophyll Mutation and Alteration in Plant Morphology of Curcuma alismatifolia by Gamma Irradiation
Thohirah Lee Abdullah, Johari Endan, B. Mohd Nazir (2009) · American Journal of Applied Sciences
Effect of Acute Gamma Irradiation onCurcuma alismatifoliaVarieties and Detection of DNA Polymorphism through SSR Marker
Sima Taheri, Thohirah Lee Abdullah, Zaiton Ahmad, Nur Ashikin Psyquay Abdullah (2014) · BioMed Research International
Genetic relationships among five varieties of Curcuma alismatifolia (Zingiberaceae) based on ISSR markers
Sima Taheri, Siti Nor Akmar Abdullah, N.A.P. Abdullah, Zulfiqar Ahmad (2012) · Genetics and Molecular Research
Genetic diversity of Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep.(Zingiberaceae) in Thailand as revealed by allozymepolymorphism
Yingyong Paisooksantivatana, S. Kako, H. Seko (2001) · Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Control of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum musae on Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep. Using Antagonistic Bacillus spp.
Supuk Mahadtanap, Mondhon Sanguanser, R. W. P. Cutler, Vicha Sardsud (2007) · American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Evaluation of Analgesic and Antioxidant Potential of the Leaves of Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep.
Raushanara Akter, SM Raquibul Hasan, Samira Ayesha Siddiqua, Muntasir Mamun Majumder (1970) · Stamford Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Curcuma 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 11 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.