John Clayton Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society’s
Wildflower Spot – April 2008
WILD
GINGER/ HEARTLEAF GINGER
The kidney-shaped leaves of Wild
Ginger (Asarum canadense) are deciduous. They are soft
to the touch, densely short-hairy, evenly green, and grow in
pairs. Since it spreads
via long rhizomes, Wild Ginger sometimes grows in dense stands.
The heart-shaped leaves
of Heartleaf Ginger (Hexastylis virginica), in contrast,
are leathery, lustrous, and evergreen. They are often mottled
with silvery veining and can develop a purple tinge in winter.
Each plant produces only one leaf each year, rather than a pair
of leaves.
The rootstocks and
sometimes the leaves (depending on rainfall) of both species
have a ginger-like aroma and a hot spicy taste. The
flowers of both are “little brown jugs”, growing beneath the
leaves and hugging the ground (often hidden beneath leaf
litter). They are pollinated by gnats, beetles, and
the flies of March and April.
Wild Ginger is widely
distributed in the eastern and central U.S., but Heartleaf
Ginger is restricted to the southeastern states, ranging from
Virginia and North Carolina westward to eastern parts of
Kentucky and Tennessee. Both gingers are widely
distributed throughout Virginia, but they grow in markedly
different soil types. Wild Ginger thrives in nutrient-rich
soils, such as those found in calcareous ravines in the Coastal
Plain; Heartleaf Ginger typically grows in acidic soils of moist
to dry upland woods.
You can test the identity of a
wild ginger by probing just below the ground with a finger and
scratching the rhizome. A ginger-like smell on your finger will
be proof. Early settlers thought these plants were
related to the tropical gingers, but they are not.
Native Americans used the
rhizome to flavor foods much as real ginger is used. There
are numerous accounts of Native Americans using wild ginger to
protect those who ate spoiled meat or food that might be
poisoned. The plant has been shown to have certain
antimicrobial properties, lending credence to early reports of
its medicinal properties in the treatment of digestive
disorders, to produce abortion, to reduce fever and for coughs
and sore throats.
The genus “Hexastylis”
is named from the Greek “hex” for six and “stylus”
for style, referring to six distinct styles in a flower (in
contrast to a single style with six lobes in Asarum.)
For many years taxonomists have differed on whether the various
species of evergreen gingers should be recognized as a separate
genus (Hexastylis) or treated as species of the genus
Asarum. That dispute continues today. Some recent data
lends support to their separation into two genera, and both
names will appear in the new Flora of Virginia.
To grow gingers in the
home garden, provide a good, humus-rich soil in full or dappled
shade. Propagation is by division in the spring,
root-cuttings, and seed. Gingers are great ground covers
under shrubbery or along woodland pathways, and they can
withstand dry conditions.
Written by Helen Hamilton, president of the John Clayton Chapter
of the Virginia Native Plant Society
Photo
(heartleaf_ginger...):
Heartleaf Ginger (Hexastylis virginica) close-up; taken
by Jan Newton
