Wild Ginger

by Bill Church, originally published in Two-Lane Livin’ Magazine, September 2007

Photo by Takahiro Sakamoto on Unsplash

Wild Ginger is completely unrelated to grocery store ginger root, but smells nearly identical. The slightest disturbance of wild ginger foliage brings a burst of gingerlike scent guaranteed to delight.

Wild Ginger is a perennial herb that reproduces mainly from its extensive rhizomes, leading to dense colonies of the plants carpeting the forest floor. The 2 to 5-inch wide dark green, somewhat hairy leaves are broadly heart-shaped (nearly circular) and form long (up to 8 inch) petioles that extend directly from the rootstock. The brownish purple, 1 – 3 inch wide flowers are “odd”, with three lobes tapering and curling away from the rest of the flower-like insect feelers.

Each solitary flower forms the leaf axils, at ground level, making them almost invisible beneath the large leaves.

A. caudatum is the most widespread species. All the Asarums share a similar appearance, but species in the west are more aromatic than their eastern relatives.

Habitat and Range: Wild Ginger can survive in disturbed areas, but it won’t do well. It is a plant of the dark forest, requiring thick compost and deep shade to flourish. It typically grows in old-growth forests, where it is important in aerating easily compressed soils. It can be found in abundance in the hardwood hollows of central and northern Appalachia.

Propagation and Growth: Wild ginger, a perennial, requires deep shade and consistently moist, acidic soil rich in forest compost. If you replicate that habitat as accurately as possible, you can cultivate wild ginger from carefully handled rhizome cuttings.

Wild ginger grows in dense patches that carpet the forest floor. What looks like several individual plants may be offshoots from a single rhizome. The rhizomes require a deep accumulation of forest debris, and the plant does not tolerate a full day of sun. Wild ginger’s extensive, horizontal root system forms a life-support structure for subterranean organisms beneath the forest floor.

Wild ginger’s neighborhood is comprised of thick, acidic forest floor debris that composts slowly, gradually compressing under its own weight. This thick mat can become impervious to water, microorganisms, heat, and even air. Add to this the minimal sunlight typical in old-growth forests, resulting in very little photosynthesis, and you have a habitat of specially adapted organisms. Wild ginger is a key element in the forest floor biocommunities, maintaining the delicate balance between life and sterility.