Wild Ginger

Wild Ginger

Wild Ginger is any of about 75 species of perennial herbs of the birthwort family, distributed throughout North Temperate areas of the world. The leaves and underground stems of some Asarum species give off a pleasant odour when bruised, and dried underground stems (rhizomes) are sometimes used as a substitute for ginger.
Wild Ginger is not related to the true ginger which is a monocotyledon. It gets its common name because its creeping stem tastes like ginger. [CH] [RA] {GW} {EB}