It is native to China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan), the Indian subcontinent (including Assam, Nepal and Bangladesh), Indochina, and widely cultivated elsewhere.

This plant is also called bhumi champa,[4] Indian crocus, peacock ginger, and round-rooted galangale.

The plant is groomed in small herbal nurseries for applications in medicine preparation.

As its Sanskrit name bhumi champa (bloom from within earth) implies, the indigo-coloured flower shoots from within the soil.

[5] The flower contains the toxin benzyl benzoate used to make ointments to treat scabies.