Genus Zingiber Miller 1754. - 140: 49 Thai.; Zingiberaceae

1. Zingiber Miller 1754. - 140: 49 Thai.

Herbs with fleshy, branched rhizome, producing several long, leafy shoots. The leaves are numerous and provided with a characteristic swelling, called a pulvinus, at the base of the lamina. A similar structure is found in the Marantaceae but not in other Zingiberaceae. The ligule is long or short, glabrous or hairy, and provides a good character helping to distinguish sterile specimens. The most conspicuous character is the anther which is provided with an elongated, hom-like crest wrapped around the style which is exerted beyond the anther. Recent molecular studies indicate that the genus Cornukaempferia, sharing this last character, should be included in this tribe. The inflorescence is, in most species, on a separate, lateral shoot, but three Thai species, Z. pellitum, Z. junceum and Z. gramineum, have a terminal inflorescence. The peduncle may be long as in Z. spectabile or the inflorescence may be partially buried in the soil as in Z. larsenii. In the species with long peduncle, the bracts are either densely imbricate giving the whole inflorescence a cone-like appearance as in Z. officinale, Z. ottensii and Z. kerrii, or they form more or less open pouches with incurved margins as in Z. spectabile. Species with the inflorescence close to the ground, or partly buried in the ground, usually have a more loose arrangements of the bracts such as Z. roseum and Z. larsenii. Z. densissimum has the inflorescence partially buried in the ground and the apex covered with a thick layer of a mucilagenous substance protecting the young flowers. In N. Thailand Zingiber smilesianum with orange and red flowers occurs. Three species of high horticultural potential have recently been described by Mood & Theilade (2002) viz. Z. niveum with white, club- shaped inflorescences and yellow flowers is found in Laos and northeastern Thailand; Z. olivaceum, a species found in peninsular Thailand and the Chantaburi Province, is related to Z. spectabile but smaller, and with shining, olivaceous bracts with reddish spots along the margin; the third is Z. citriodorum with a green, Curcuma-1 iIce inflorescence with yellow flowers turning red and fruits with a strong smell of Citrus oil when crushed. Besides these there are still several new species in the process of publishing.

Zingiber officinale, the commen ginger, is the commercially the most important species of this whole family. In Thai it is called ’’khing”. It is used in a wide variety of local dishes but also world wide in food, cakes, sweets, and beverages. It is also an important medicinal species, not only in traditional herbal medicine. Other species of Zingiber have local medicinal uses such as Z. zerumbet, Z. ottensii, and Z. montanum (syn. Z. cassumunar).

The genus is distributed throughout S and SE Asia to China and Japan and to northern, tropical Australia.

The name Zingiber comes from a Sanskrit word meaning a bulls horn, some think this refers to the rhizome, but it is probably an early recognition of the unique structure of the anther crest.

Zingiber peninsulare, a recently described species from the forests of peninsular Thailand. - Photo PT

Zingiber junceum, one of the easily recognizable species with pure yellow flowers and glaucous leaves. - Photo KL

Zingiber smilesianum, a rare species from northernmost*Thailand. - Photo PT

Zingiber sp., a mature infructescence with open bracts presenting the black seeds with a white arillus. - Photo SSL

Zingiber corallinum, a perfect red club. - Photo PT

Zingiber kerrii with green bracts, tipped with red, named after the British botanist A.F.G. Kerr. - Photo PT 

Zingiber citriodorum, a recently described species from Thailand with a strong smell of lemon. - Photo PT 

Zingiber montanum, one of the first ginger species described by J. Koenig in 1783. He referred it, however, to the genus Amomum. His specimen collected on Phuket Island is kept at the Botanical Museum in Copenhagen. - Photo PT 

Zingiber larsenii was collected by the authors in the mountains N. of Nan in Northern Thailand. It is one of many Thai endemisms. - Photo SSL 

Zingiber spectabile from the southern rainforests is the tallest Zingiber species in Thailand with the leafy shoots above 2 m and the inflorescence to nearly 1/2 m high. - Photo KL 

Zingiber barbatum was described by N. Wallich (N. Wolff) born in Denmark. He became surgeon and botanist and entered British colonial service. He ended as Director for the Botanical Garden in Calcutta. - Photo PT 

Zingiber officinale the true ginger, the economically most important species in the family. - Photo KL 

Zingiber neotruncatum from the northern mountains. - Photo KL

Source: Kai Larsen and Supee Suksuwan Larsen (2006) Gingers of Thailand, Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden The Botanical Garden Organization Thailand