Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a

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

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 t ...

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 appropriat ...

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 widel ...

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 medicina ...

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 ...

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 plants. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers ('' Alpinia''), Siam or summer tulip ('' Curcuma alismatifolia''), '' Globba'', ginger lily ('' Hedychium''), '' Kaempferia'', torch-ginger '' Etlingera elatior'', ''

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 tre ...

'', 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. o ...

''). 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'' 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 commonl ...

''), myoga (''Zingiber mioga''), korarima (''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 ...

(''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 ar ...

('' Amomum'', '' Elettaria'').

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.

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 mechanis ...

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 s ...

, 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 fila ...

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 ('' Alpinia'', '' Hedychium'').

Taxonomy

Subdivisions

Chhoti elaichi flower & fruit in Goa W IMG 2466

*Subfamily Siphonochiloideae **Tribe Siphonochileae ***'' Siphonochilus'' *Subfamily Tamijioideae **Tribe Tamijieae ***'' Tamijia'' *Subfamily Alpinioideae **'' 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, uncertain ...

'') **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 ...

'' - grains of paradise ***'' Alpinia'' - galangal ***'' Amomum'' ***'' Aulotandra'' ***'' Cyphostigma'' ***'' Elettaria'' - cardamom ***'' Elettariopsis'' ***'' Etlingera'' ***'' Geocharis'' ***''

Geostachys ''Geostachys'' 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 geographical U ...

'' ***'' Hornstedtia'' ***'' Lanxangia'' ***''

Leptosolena ''Leptosolena'' is a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae. It has only one known species, ''Leptosolena haenkei'', endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Discovery The species was discovered in 1792 by the Czech traveller and botanis ...

'' ***'' Plagiostachys'' ***''

'' ***''

Vanoverberghia ''Vanoverberghia'' is a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae, named after Morice Vanoverbergh (1885–1982), a Catholic missionary priest who lived in the Philippines and was also an anthropologist and a linguist. The genus has now have five k ...

'' ***×''Alpingera'' F. Luc-Cayol (''Alpinia'' × ''Etlingera'') - intergeneric hybrid **Tribe Riedelieae ***''

Burbidgea ''Burbidgea'' is a genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping ...

'' ***'' Pleuranthodium'' ***'' Riedelia'' ***''

Siamanthus ''Siamanthus'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It contains only one known species, ''Siamanthus siliquosus'', endemic to Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thai ...

'' *Subfamily

Zingiberoideae Zingiberoideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Zingiberaceae.Kress JW, Prince LM, Williams KJ (2002) The phylogeny and a new classification of the gingers (Zingiberaceae): evidence from molecular data. ''American Journal of Botany'', 89(1 ...

**'' Caulokaempferia'' (''

'') **Tribe Zingibereae ***'' Boesenbergia'' ***'' Camptandra'' ***''

Cautleya ''Cautleya'' is a small genus of perennial plants of the family Zingiberaceae (the ginger family), found in the eastern Himalayas through to China and Vietnam. It consists of two species of high-altitude tropical and temperate plants, native ...

'' ***'' Cornukaempferia'' ***'' Curcuma'' - turmeric ***'' Curcumorpha'' ***'' Distichochlamys'' ***'' Haniffia'' ***'' Haplochorema'' ***'' Hedychium'' ***'' Hitchenia'' ***'' Kaempferia'' ***'' Kedhalia'' ***'' Laosanthus'' ***'' Myxochlamys'' ***'' Nanochilus'' ***'' Newmania'' ***'' Parakaempferia'' ***''

Pommereschea ''Pommereschea'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. There are two known species, native to China and Indochina: *'' Pommereschea lackneri'' Wittm. - Yunnan, Myanmar, Thailand *'' Pommereschea spectabilis'' (King & Prain) K.Schum. in H. ...

'' ***'' Pyrgophyllum'' ***'' Rhynchanthus'' ***''

Roscoea ''Roscoea'' is a genus of perennial plants of the 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 southern neighbou ...

'' ***'' Scaphochlamys'' ***'' Smithatris'' ***'' Stadiochilus'' ***'' Stahlianthus'' ***''

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