Order Zingiberales

Order Zingiberales

In Order Zingiberales there are eight families containing about 1,800 species. Many of them grow abundantly in tropical areas and some plants can reach quite a large size though most do not have woody supporting tissues as trees do. In wet tropical regions, members of this order are evergreen. The Ginger Family (Zingiberaceae) is the largest of the families. Other plants in Zingiberales provide spices such as turmeric and cardamom. The largest plants in the order are tree-sized; the Traveler's-tree that grows in Madagascar and a giant species of the Banana genus that grows in New Guinea. [CH] {EN}