Engelbert Kaempfer

Engelbert Kaempfer was a most remarkable man! He would have been recognized as special regardless of the century he lived in. His journeys and more importantly his records of his journeys have made him an icon for the observant traveler. You only have to type his name into an Internet search to be inundated by information about him and the society dedicated to his works. His history of Japan is considered as the basic starting point for any study of Japan. This was a man who understood beyond what he saw and he noted the finest details. It seems only fitting that so beautiful a genus of plants should honor so beautiful a mind.

On September 16th, 1651, in the small rural town of Lemgo, Germany (about 50 miles southwest of Hannover) a second son was born to Johannes and Christine Kemper. They named him Engelbert. As a bright student he progressed to attending the University of Cracow studying medicine in 1675. In 1681 he was studying at the university in Uppsala, Sweden. This is the same university that Linnaeus attended some 40 years later and became the professor of botany there. While in Sweden, Engelbert was asked to join a commercial delegation to Persia as the secretary. As part of this delegation Engelbert met Peter the Great in Moscow. When the delegation finished its work in Persia in 1684 Engelbert joined the Dutch East India Company and worked as a physician around the Persian Gulf until 1688 when he served as ship physician on the fleet going to India, Sumatra and Java. He arrived in Java in October 1689 and the next year was appointed physician to the trade delegation in Japan. May 7, 1690 he leaves Java and arrives in Thailand in early June and remains there until July 11, 1690. It should be noted that at this time of year the medicinal herb, galanga would be in full growth. Kaempfer, he had changed the spelling of his last name from Kemper, arrived in Japan on September 24, 1690. He, as were all foreigners was restricted to the small island of Deshima just off the coast from Nagasaki. Once each year the delegation was required to pay their respects to Japan by going to Tokyo. This two-week journey allowed Kaempfer to collect many plants, which he introduced to Europe.

He returned to Holland in October 1693. In 1694 Kaempfer returns to Lemgo and marries Maria in December of 1700. They have three children who all die young. Kaempfer writes about his adventures and his observations of natural history while he practices medicine. His history of the date palm was published in 1716 and his “Amoenitatum exoticarum” (exotic pleasures) was published in 1712. He also wrote the history of Siam and his most important work, “The History of Japan”. He died on November 2, 1716. The High School in Lemgo is named in his honor. Also named in his honor is the genus of gingers, Kaempferia, commonly known as ground gingers or peacock gingers. I’m not certain why Linneaus named these beautiful plants in his honor. Linneaus first used the genus “Kaempferia” in 1736 in a catalogue of plants in the collection of George Clifford. This catalogue, “Hortus Cliffortianus” shows a plant named “Kaempferia rotunda”, so named because of its round leaves! It is later determined to be Galanga and in 1753 in Species Plantarum, Linneaus names it Kaempferia galanga and the plant name ‘rotunda’ is now used to describe the plant we now know as Kaempferia rotunda which does not have the round leaves so common in the genus. The question lingers, could there be an actual connection between the ginger in Clifford’s collection and the remarkable man it honors with the name Kaempferia?

Kaempferia galanga
By John Banta

July 28, 2007

Kaempferia galanga was first noted by Linneus in 1736 in Hortus Cliffortanus as Kaempferia rotunda because of the round leaves. It was in his 1756 Species Plantarum on page 4 that he applied the name Kaempferia galanga to the plant we all know now as Kaempferia galanga. Not one of the most beautiful plants in the genus but certainly one of the most interesting. Its long history of medicinal use and reputed hallucinogenic effects ¹ makes K. glanga one of the most widely grown Kaempferias. The reputed hallucinogenic effects may be due to the presence of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, ethyl-methoxy-trans-cinnmic acid ² is only one of a large number of essential oils and other compounds found in galanga rhizomes ³.The collection of galanga in the field is usually done by native people. Their interpretation of what actually is galanga isn't based upon taxonomic concerns such as flowers but rather upon gross morphology. The leaves should be rather large and flat on the ground, the rhizomes must be robust and large enough to be skinned and sliced by the cooks. There are several Kaempferias that meet this criteria so different species may be presented as K. galanga. They all present the same culinary assets. In so far as medicinal uses go the problems of field collection don't seem to present any problems. The use of a tea made from galanga rhizomes for hypertension seems to be validated by research done Othman R, Ibrahim H, Mohd MA, Awang K, Gilani AU, Mustafa MR.in their paper Vasorelaxant effects of ethyl cinnamate isolated from Kaempferia galanga on smooth muscles of the rat aorta.; Extracts of galanga have shown promising repellant qualities against mosquitoes as well as some larvicidal activity when applied to mosquito breeding sites.

The molecular melody presented by K. galanga rhizomes offers great opportunities for herbal and culinary adventures. Besides all of that the plant is a handsome addition to any garden and deserves wider use for simple horticultural pleasure.

*Correspondence to K. C. Wong, School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia

Articles and image courtesy of John Banta Updated July 28, 2007

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