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Most gingers are
found in the rain forests of tropical Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas.
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They tend to be shrub like, with no single trunk, but several large stems that
shoot up from the ground and develop large, long banana-like leaves.
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These giant
leaves and their sheathing make up the 'pseudostems', for the true stems are
actually quite short and low to the ground.
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Where these true stems are
underground, they are called the 'rhizomes'; this can often be quite thick and
is actually the 'hand' of the ginger that we use for flavoring.
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There is much
variation in flower and fruit display in this group.
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Both families (as well as
the closely related families Cannaceae and Marantaceae) have flowers that are
characterized by one main functional stamen, while the other four stamens have
usually been modified into 'staminodes' which often act as attracting petals.
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Gingers were
previously placed in one large family of over 1500 species in 50 genera (de Wit
1967), but are now generally split into two families, Zingiberaceae and
Costaceae. While the latter family tends to have shorter, fatter spirally
arranged leaves with a closed sheath on the main stem, the former has the
classic long and large banana-like, aromatic and distichously arranged leaves,
such as found in the true ginger (Larsen et al 1999).
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While the Zingibers have
their centre of diversity in Asia and Australia, the Costaceae are found mainly
in Africa and South America (Larsen 1999).
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As mentioned, Gingers are of course
best known as their use in flavoring, with the true ginger coming from the root
of the Asian ginger plant Zingiber officinale.
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But many other species are used;
the leaves are used as food wrapping, some species of seeds are eaten or used
for flavoring, and other spices, such as cardamom and turmeric, are from the
ginger family.
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The showy flowers, fruits and bracts are increasingly being used
for ornamental purposes.
