Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s made up of about 50

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

with a total of about 1600 known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of aromatic

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s with creeping horizontal or tuberous

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Many of the family's species are important ornamental,

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

, or

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against her ...

s. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers (''

Alpinia ''Alpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is named for Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist who specialized in exotic plants. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, whe ...

''), Siam or summer tulip (''

Curcuma alismatifolia ''Curcuma alismatifolia'', Siam tulip or summer tulip ( th, ปทุมมา, ; , ; , ) is a tropical plant native to Laos, northern Thailand, and Cambodia. Despite its name, it is not related to the tulip, but to the various ginger species ...

''), ''

Globba ''Globba'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains about 100 species, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off th ...

'', ginger lily (''

Hedychium ''Hedychium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, native to lightly wooded habitats in Asia. There are approximately 70-80 known species, native to India, Southeast Asia, and Madagascar. Some species have become wi ...

''), ''

Kaempferia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and w ...

'', torch-ginger ''

Etlingera elatior ''Etlingera elatior'' (also known as torch ginger, ginger flower, red ginger lily, torch lily, wild ginger, ''combrang, bunga kantan'', Philippine wax flower, ගොඩ ඕලු (goda olu), ගොඩ නෙලුම් (goda nelum), සිද් ...

'', ''

Renealmia ''Renealmia'' is a plant genus in the family Zingiberaceae. Its members are native to tropical Africa and tropical America (Latin America and the West Indies). In Peru, fruits and tubers are sources of indigenous dyes. and indigenous medical trea ...

'', and ginger (''

Zingiber The genus ''Zingiber'' is native to Southeast Asia especially in Thailand, China, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. It contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their culinary value. The most well known are '' Z. officina ...

''). Spices include ginger (''

''),

galangal Galangal () is a common name for several tropical rhizomatous spices. Differentiation The word ''galangal'', or its variant ''galanga'' or archaically ''galingale'', can refer in common usage to the aromatic rhizome of any of four plant spec ...

or Thai ginger (''

Alpinia galanga ''Alpinia galanga'', a plant in the ginger family, bears a rhizome used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Arab cuisine and Southeast Asian cookery. It is one of four plants known as "galangal". Its common names include g ...

'' and others), melegueta pepper (''

Aframomum melegueta ''Aframomum melegueta'' is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, and closely related to cardamom. Its seeds are used as a spice (ground or whole); it imparts a pungent, black-pepper-like flavor with hints of citrus. It is commonly ...

''),

myoga Myoga, myoga ginger or Japanese ginger () is the species ''Zingiber mioga'' in the family Zingiberaceae. It is a deciduous herbaceous perennial native to Japan, China, and the southern part of Korea.Cole TCH, Nürnberger "Zingiber mioga and its ...

(''Zingiber mioga''),

korarima ''Aframomum corrorima'' is a species of flowering plant in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It's a herbaceous perennial that produces leafy stems 1–2 meters tall from rhizomatous roots. The alternately-arranged leaves are dark green, 10–30&n ...

(''Aframomum corrorima''),

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

(''Curcuma''), and

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

(''

Amomum ''Amomum'' is a genus of plants native to China, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland. It includes several species of cardamom, especially black cardamom. Plants of this genus are remarkable for their pungency and a ...

'', ''

Elettaria ''Elettaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. They are native to India and Sri Lanka, but cultivated and naturalized elsewhere. One member of the genus, '' E. cardamomum'', is a commercially important spice used as a ...

'').

Description

Members of the family are small to large herbaceous plants with distichous leaves with basal sheaths that overlap to form a pseudostem. The plants are either self-supporting or

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

Flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...

, usually strongly

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

, in determinate cymose inflorescences, and subtended by conspicuous, spirally arranged bracts. The perianth is composed of two whorls, a fused tubular calyx, and a tubular corolla with one lobe larger than the other two. Flowers typically have two of their stamenoids (sterile

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s) fused to form a petaloid lip, and have only one fertile stamen. The ovary is inferior and topped by two nectaries, the stigma is funnel-shaped. Some genera yield

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s used in the perfume industry (''

'', ''

'').

Taxonomy

Subdivisions

Chhoti elaichi flower & fruit in Goa W IMG 2466

*Subfamily

Siphonochiloideae ''Siphonochilus'' is a genus of plants native to sub-Saharan Africa.Govaerts, R. (2004). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-54382. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. * ''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' (Sch ...

**Tribe Siphonochileae ***''

Siphonochilus ''Siphonochilus'' is a genus of plants native to sub-Saharan Africa.Govaerts, R. (2004). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-54382. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. * ''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' (Sch ...

'' *Subfamily Tamijioideae **Tribe Tamijieae ***'' Tamijia'' *Subfamily

Alpinioideae Alpinioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Zingiberaceae. Tribes & genera Tribe Alpinieae * '' Adelmeria'' * ''Aframomum'' * ''Alpinia'' * ''Amomum'' - synonym '' Elettariopsis'' * '' Aulotandra'' * '' Conamomum'' * '' Cyphostigma'' * ' ...

**'' Siliquamomum'' (''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'') **Tribe Alpinieae ***'' Adelmeria'' ***''

Aframomum ''Aframomum'' is a genus in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is widespread across tropical Africa as well as on some islands of the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Seychelles, and Mauritius). It is represented by approximately 50 species. It i ...

'' -

grains of paradise ''Aframomum melegueta'' is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, and closely related to cardamom. Its seeds are used as a spice (ground or whole); it imparts a pungent, black-pepper-like flavor with hints of citrus. It is commonly ...

***''

'' - galangal ***''

'' ***''

Aulotandra ''Aulotandra'' is a genus of plants native to Cameroon and Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island ...

'' ***'' Cyphostigma'' ***''

'' - cardamom ***'' Elettariopsis'' ***'' Etlingera'' ***'' Geocharis'' ***'' Geostachys'' ***'' Hornstedtia'' ***'' Lanxangia'' ***'' Leptosolena'' ***''

Plagiostachys ''Plagiostachys'' is a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographica ...

'' ***''

'' ***'' Vanoverberghia'' ***×''Alpingera'' F. Luc-Cayol (''Alpinia'' × ''Etlingera'') - intergeneric hybrid **Tribe Riedelieae ***'' Burbidgea'' ***'' Pleuranthodium'' ***'' Riedelia'' ***'' Siamanthus'' *Subfamily Zingiberoideae **'' Caulokaempferia'' (''

'') **Tribe Zingibereae ***''

Boesenbergia ''Boesenbergia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains more than 70 species, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.). Species ''Plants of the World Online'' ...

'' ***'' Camptandra'' ***'' Cautleya'' ***'' Cornukaempferia'' ***''

Curcuma ''Curcuma'' () is a genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae that contains such species as turmeric and Siam tulip. They are native to Southeast Asia, southern China, the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea and northern Australia. Some species are ...

'' - turmeric ***'' Curcumorpha'' ***''

Distichochlamys ''Distichochlamys'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It has 4 known species, all endemic to Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast A ...

'' ***'' Haniffia'' ***''

Haplochorema ''Haplochorema'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It has 6 known species, all native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East ...

'' ***''

Hitchenia ''Hitchenia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains only one recognized species, ''Hitchenia glauca'', endemic to Myanmar (Burma). The plant, which is called ''malaphu'' (မာလာဖူး) in Burmese, is used as an herb in B ...

'' ***''

'' ***'' Kedhalia'' ***'' Laosanthus'' ***''

Myxochlamys ''Myxochlamys'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. Its native range is Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Mar ...

'' ***''

Nanochilus ''Nanochilus'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains only one known species, ''Nanochilus palembanicus'', endemic to Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully ...

'' ***'' Newmania'' ***''

Parakaempferia ''Parakaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains only one known species, ''Parakaempferia synantha'', first described in 1971 and endemic to the Assam region of eastern India India, officially the Republic of Indi ...

'' ***'' Pommereschea'' ***'' Pyrgophyllum'' ***''

Rhynchanthus ''Rhynchanthus'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to Yunnan, Myanmar, and the Assam region of eastern India. * '' Rhynchanthus beesianus'' W.W.Sm. - Yunnan, Myanmar * '' Rhynchanthus bluthianus'' Wittm. - Myanmar * '' Rhyn ...

'' ***''

Roscoea ''Roscoea'' is a genus of perennial plants of the family (biology), family Zingiberaceae (the ginger family). Most members of the family are tropical, whereas ''Roscoea'' species are native to mountainous regions of the Himalayas, China and its ...

'' ***''

Scaphochlamys ''Scaphochlamys'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Borneo and Malaysia).Searle, R.J. (2010). The genus ''Scaphochlamys'' (Zingiberaceae - Zingibereae): a compendium for the field work ...

'' ***'' Smithatris'' ***''

Stadiochilus ''Stadiochilus'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains only one known species, ''Stadiochilus burmanicus'', first described by Rosemary Margaret Smith in 1980 and endemic to Myanmar (Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: ...

'' ***''

Stahlianthus ''Stahlianthus'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to southern China, the Himalayas, and Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast ...

'' ***''

'' - ginger **Tribe Globbeae ***'' Gagnepainia'' ***''

'' ***'' Hemiorchis''

Distribution

The Zingiberaceae have a pantropical distribution in the tropics of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, with their greatest diversity in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

References

Bibliography

External links

List of Indian medicinal plants
from
Biodiversity of India
'
''The phylogeny and a new classification of the gingers (Zingiberaceae): evidence from molecular data''
*Zomlefer, W.B. ''Flowering Plant Families''. The University of North Carolina Press. 1994. {{Authority control Commelinid families Rhizomatous plants