Family | Zingiberaceae

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Gardening | Plant ID

The Ginger family

I have been experimenting with root plants. Gingers and turmeric are exotic. The foliage dies back but returns in the spring. Variegated ornamental ginger is a favorite so I have added this to the culinary ginger and turmeric. Variegated varieties abound in my garden basically drawn to add interest in a “dark” shady garden of native oak trees.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Zingiberaceae, the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Many of the family's species are important ornamental, spice, or medicinal plants. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers (Alpinia), Siam or summer tulip (Curcuma alismatifolia), Globba, ginger lily (Hedychium), Kaempferia, torch-ginger Etlingera elatior, Renealmia, and ginger (Zingiber). Spices include ginger (Zingiber), galangal or Thai ginger (Alpinia galanga and others), melegueta pepper (Aframomum melegueta), myoga (Zingiber mioga), korarima (Aframomum corrorima), turmeric (Curcuma), and cardamom (Amomum, Elettaria).

ZINIBER                                         

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine.

Ginger

1896 color plate from
                          Köhler's Medicinal Curcuma              

Curcuma                                            

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Curcuma longa, Turmeric is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F) and high annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption.

Curcuma alismatifolia, Siam tulip, is not related to tulips (tulipa). It grows well in climates with hot, high-humidity summers. The plant prefers sun to part shade and mildly acidic to neutral, moist, well-drained soil. Although this variety is more drought tolerant than most, especially in partial shade, Curcuma needs consistent moisture throughout the growing season in full sun and should never be allowed to dry out.

Curcuma alismatifolia
Holland Bulb company

Alpinia

Variegated shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet)

Alpinia zerumbet, commonly known as shell ginger among other names, is a perennial species of ginger native to East Asia. 

Ornamental shell ginger, Alpinia zerumbet 'Variegata'

I grow this successfully in my woodland garden (zone 7b)

Hedychium                                                     

White Ginger Lily  (Hedychium coronarium)

The White ginger plant can reach five feet tall and in late July and through August produces a very fragrant white flower.  The scent is as lovely as the flower. 

                                                                                                                                                                                            

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