When the wild ginger broke through the soil, a few weeks back, I was not quite sure what to make of it – the pale almost radiant green protrusions looked like folded handkerchiefs more than leaves, and only later did it dawn on me that this was Asarum canadense. The plant is found in the eastern US in the rich soil of the shaded woodland, and has thrived in my garden. I started out with a few plants 2 years ago, and now it has spread considerably. It can propagate from underground rhizomes and will readily spread 5 to 10 inches every year.
While the leaves are still developing, the plant is already in bloom. this dark flesh-colored flowers are located at the base of the plant, and are lying on the soil. The flowers are bell shaped with three acuminate-reflexed tips. According to botanists, the flower evolved to attract the small flies that come out early in the spring. The color of the flower is similar to rotting flesh. When the flies enter the flowers, pollen attaches to their bodies and is taken to the next flower. The seeds are similary equiped to get help from another insect: They have an oily appendage (called an “elaiosome”) to which the ants are attracted. In this manner, the seeds end up dispersed and underground, where they can’t be eaten by birds or mammals.
Despite the appetizing name, wild ginger is really not so much a delicacy. The native Americans and settlers did use wild ginger as a spice. The root was dried and then ground into a powder. Early settlers also boiled the root in sugar water for several days to obtain a ginger-flavored, candied root. The liquid was then boiled down to a syrup that could be used with other foods. Fast forward from those early days, however, and heed the warning that Asarum canadense contains possible carcinogens. Don’t eat the wild ginger! There were medicinal uses as well: Native Americans settlers used the plant as a poultice to treat wounds. Indeed, wild ginger has antibiotic qualities.
The best way to propagate wild ginger is to cut pieces of the rhizomes and plant them elsewhere in your garden. Wait until late spring when the plant has a good amount of leaves. By adding the plant to your woodland garden, you are also doing your bit to help feed the progeny of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly. The caterpillars are brownish black with tow rows of orange spots down their back.
Wild ginger May 2011
| Scientific name: | Asarum canadense |
| Common name: | wild ginger |
| Other name: | canadian snakeroot, canadian wild ginger |
| Bloom time: | late winter to early spring |
| Color: | purple-brown to flesh |
| Light requirements: | partial to full shade |
| Zone: | 2 to 8 |
| Soil: | strongly acidic to mildly acidic |
| Water: | moist |
| Origin: | eastern North America |
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