| Genus | Common Names | Description | Binominal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1 Family, 6 Genus, and 100s of species. | ||
| Zingiberaceae | Gingers (Alpinia, Costus, Curcuma, Hedychium, Kaempferia, and Zingiber) belong to the Zingiberaceae family | ||
| Alpinia | Thai Ginger Red Torch Shell Ginger |
Alpinia has its origins in asian and the pacific region and contains varieties such as A. garanga which is used to make the spice cardamon, A. purpurata with its scarlet bracts of white flowers has the interesting feature of starting new plants in the bracts that then root when the head touches the ground, and A. zerumbet with its drooping sprays of waxy brightly colored flowers is a very memorable site. They, Alpinia, have a similar growth habit to the banana with the leaves forming the stalk, and the flowers emerging last from the tips of the leaf stalks. | A. garanga A. purpurata A. zerumbet |
| Costus | Crepe Ginger Spiral Ginger |
There are some 150 species of Costus. They occur in the wild mostly in tropical America and West Africa, but also some in other tropical regions of the world. These ginger grow in a spiral shape with the leaves growing in a spiral up the stalks. The flower heads grow from the ends of the stalks with overlapping colorful bracts. The flowers, that emerge from between the bracts, come in white, red, yellow, orange, and pink. | C. speciosus C. spiralis |
| Curcuma | Jewel of Thailand Tumeric |
There are some 40 species of Curcuma. They occur naturally from tropical Asian to northern Australia. It is one of the shorter types of ginger. With the larger ones reaching 3' in height. They grow leaves similar leaves to the canna, and produce short spikes with the small flowers coming from between large bracts. | C. cordata C. domestica |
| Hedychium | Butterfly Ginger Kahili Ginger Ginger Lily Garland Flower |
There are some 40 species of Hedychium, and are native to southern Asia (mostly from the mountainous areas). Hedychium are considered by many to be the most tropical of gingers. These ginger grow from perennial rhizomes, and form clumps, on average, up to 6' high and 4' wide. They produce beautiful flowers from the apex of the stalks that are very fragrant, and good for use as cut flowers. The foliage of Hedychiums is very lush. They are also one of the most cold hardy of the gingers. | H. coccineeum H. coronarium H. densiflorum H. gardnerianum |
| Kaempferia | Oriental Crocus Resurection Lily |
K. rotunda | |
| Zingiber | Halia Spice Ginger Pinecone Ginger Shampoo Ginger |
There are some 100 species of Zingiber. The most well known of which is Z. officinale that the spice ginger root comes from. | Z.officinale Z. zerumbet |