Black Turmeric is a perennial herb with bluish-black rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

, native to North-East and Central India. Black Turmeric is also sparsely found in Papi Hills

Papi Hills

-Introduction:Papi kondalu is a lovely place whose scenery resembles the scenery of Kashmir . Papi kondalu are distributed between East Godavari, West Godavari and Khammam district. The entrance of Papi kondalu can be seen from Koruturu...

 of East Godavari

East Godavari

East Godavari District is a district situated on the northeast of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Its district headquarters is Kakinada. It is the second richest district in the whole country...

, West Godavari

West Godavari

West Godavari District is one of the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. Eluru, is the district headquarter...

, and Khammam

Khammam

Khammam , is the headquarters of the Khammam District in Andhra Pradesh state of India and is located about east of state capital, Hyderabad...

 Districts of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

. The rhizomes of Black Turmeric have a high economical importance owing to its putative medicinal properties. Presently Black Turmeric is on the verge of extinction due to unfavorable climatic changes, deforestration, soil erosion and bio-piracy.
(Hindi: काली हल्दी Kali Haldi, Nar Kachura, कृष्ण केदार Krishna kedar; Manipuri: Yaingang Amuba or Yaimu; Marathi: काला हल्दी Kala-haldi; Telugu: Nalla Pasupu; Kannada: kariarishina, naru kachora; Bengali: Kala haldi; Mizo: Aihang, Ailaihang; Assamese: kala haladhi; Nepalese: कालो हलेदो Kaalo haledo)
"marathi madhe kali hald mhantat"
The leaves have a deep violet-red patch which runs through the length of the lamina.