ginger

A perennial native to SE Asia (Zingiber officinale); stem to 1 m/3¼ ft; rhizomatous; leaves with sheathing stalks, in two rows; yellow and purple flowers, complex, sterile, resembling those of orchids, in long dense spikes with overlapping yellow and green bracts. An important spice since ancient times, it reached Europe by the 1st-c, and England by the 11th-c. The aromatic rhizome contains the essential oil zingiberene, used in perfumes as well as food and drink (such as ginger ale). Because the flowers are sterile, propagation is vegetative. (Family: Zingiberaceae.)