Wild Ginger
Growth Habit
HerbaceousPropagation
Seed Treatment and Storage: Do not let seeds dry out. Requires warm/moist then cold/moist stratification; germinates on second warm spell but may take up to two years.
Biocultural Value
Candied wild ginger rhizomes can serve as a passable substitute for true ginger, although they should probably only be consumed in moderate quantities. Fernald and Kinsey (1958) wryly noted that "inordinate eating of it might be detrimental, a point which those who are sufficiently inquisitive might well determine." The plant was used by multiple Native American groups including the Haudenosaunee, Cherokee, Chippewa, and Algonquin. Rhizomes were employed medicinally as an anticonvulsive, cold remedy, disinfectant, and digestive aid.
Poisonous
Wild ginger contains aristolochic acid, an anti-inflammatory, immune stimulant, and antibiotic compound that is also nephrotoxic (kidney-damaging) and carcinogenic.
Wildlife Value
Wild ginger's low-lying purplish brown flowers are self-pollinated and the plant also reproduces asexually via rhizomes (Wildman 1950). The pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) and bold-feathered grass moth (Herpetogramma pertextalis) use wild ginger as a caterpillar host plant. Aphaenogaster rudis ants disperse the seeds in return for the lip-rich structure (elaisome) on the outside. However, invasive slugs have been shown to remove elaisomes without dispersing the seed, thus "robbing" the native ants of their food and curtailing wild ginger propagation (Dunphy et. al. 2001). Mammalian herbivores avoid the mildly toxic leaves.
