| Asarum caudatum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Piperales |
| Family: | Aristolochiaceae |
| Genus: | Asarum |
| Species: | A. caudatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Asarum caudatum | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Asarum caudatum (British Columbia wild ginger, western wild ginger, or long-tailed wild ginger) is a plant native to rich moist forests of western North America. It has heart-shaped leaves and a three-lobed purplish flower.
Growing from a long rhizome, the reniform (kidney/heart-shaped) leaves range from 2–10 centimetres (3⁄4–4 inches) in length. The leaves are found in colonies or clusters as the rhizome spreads, forming mats. [3] The leaves emit a ginger aroma when rubbed. [4] Blooming from April to July (about a month earlier in British Columbia), [4] the flower sits at the end of a 15 cm (6 in) leafstalk, often on the ground, hidden by the leaves. [5] The flowers are hirsute (hairy), cup-shaped, and brown-purple to green-yellow, terminating in three, long, gracefully curved lobes. [3] [5]
Similar species include A. hartwegii , A. lemmonii , and A. marmoratum . [5]
Caudatum comes from the Latin cauda, meaning tail. [6] This refers to the tail-like shape of the flower's calyx.
Asarum caudatum is found in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, [7] Idaho, and Montana [3] in moist, shaded environments. Its northernmost populations occur near Meziadin Lake. [8] It is a typical herb found in the understory of mixed conifer forests under 670 metres (2,200 ft) in elevation, and is often a dominant plant. [9] [10]
A. caudatum reproduces rhizomatously, meaning many mats are formed by one clonal plant connected by a rhizome. It can also reproduce sexually, with its seeds dispersed by ants. The flowers are pollinated by flies. However, cross-pollination is rare. Ants are attracted by a fatty appendage attached to the seed. [11] The ants carry the entire package back to their colonies. The seed is often dropped outside the nest once the ant realizes only the appendage is edible. Due to the costs of producing seeds with an appendage to attract ants, it is more energetically favorable for the plant to reproduce rhizomatously. [4]
Asarum caudatum is not listed a species of concern. However, the habitat in which it is native is threatened in some regions by logging and other land uses.
Members of the family Aristolochiaceae contain aristolochic acid, which has been recognized as a carcinogen. [12]
The root is edible. [13] Native Americans used the plant for various medicinal purposes. [13]
Some describe using A. caudatum as a ginger substitute [5] and as a tea with medicinal properties. In a study on its effects on fungus, A. caudatum had antifungal properties when tested against nine fungal species. [14]
Wild ginger may refer to any of a variety of plants, often with a similar appearance, odour or taste to cultivated ginger. Species involved include:
Asarum is a genus of plants in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, commonly known as wild ginger.
Aegopodium podagraria, commonly called ground elder, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae that grows in shady places. The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is not closely related. Other common names include herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, gout wort, snow-in-the-mountain, English masterwort and wild masterwort. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium. It is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced around the world as an ornamental plant, where it occasionally poses an ecological threat as an invasive exotic plant.
Rubus parviflorus, commonly called thimbleberry, is a species of Rubus native to northern temperate regions of North America. It bears edible red fruit similar in appearance to a raspberry, but shorter, almost hemispherical. Because the fruit does not hold together well, it has not been commercially developed for the retail berry market, but is cultivated for landscapes. The plant has large hairy leaves and no thorns.
Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot, is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the only species in the genus Sanguinaria, included in the poppy family Papaveraceae, and is most closely related to Eomecon of eastern Asia.
Cornus canadensis is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern Asia and North America. Common names include Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatre-temps, crackerberry, and creeping dogwood. Unlike its relatives, which are for the most part substantial trees and shrubs, C. canadensis is a creeping, rhizomatous perennial growing to about 20 centimetres tall.
Asarum europaeum, commonly known as asarabacca, European wild ginger, hazelwort, and wild spikenard, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, native to large parts of temperate Europe, and also cultivated in gardens. It is a creeping evergreen perennial with glossy green, kidney shaped leaves and solitary dull purple flowers hidden by the leaves. Though its roots have a ginger aroma, it is not closely related to the true culinary ginger Zingiber officinale, which originates in tropical Asian rainforests. It is sometimes harvested for use as a spice or a flavoring. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic.
Maianthemum dilatatum is a common rhizomatous perennial flowering plant that is native to western North America from northern California to the Aleutian islands, and Asia across the Kamchatka Peninsula, Japan, and Korea. It grows in coastal temperate rainforests, and is often the dominant groundcover plant in Sitka Spruce forests.
Calla is a genus of flowering plant in the family Araceae, containing the single species Calla palustris.
Aristolochia californica, the California pipevine, California Dutchman's-pipe, or California snakeroot is a perennial woody vine of western North America.
Anemonoides quinquefolia, a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to North America. It is commonly called wood anemone or windflower, not to be confused with Anemonoides nemorosa, a closely related European species also known by these common names. The specific epithet quinquefolia means "five-leaved", which is a misnomer since each leaf has just three leaflets. A plant typically has a single, small white flower with 5 sepals.
Prunus andersonii is a species of shrub in the rose family, part of the same genus as the peach, cherry, and almond. Its common names include desert peach and desert almond. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.
Viola sororia, known commonly as the common blue violet, is a short-stemmed herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names, including common meadow violet, purple violet, woolly blue violet, hooded violet, and wood violet. Its cultivar 'Albiflora' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. This perennial plant species is distributed in the eastern half of the United States, Canada and a part of Eastern Mexico. Their native habitats are rich, moist woods, and swamps located in the eastern half of the United States and Canada.
Iris lacustris, the dwarf lake iris, is a plant species in the genus Iris, subgenus Limniris and in the section Lophiris. It is a rhizomatous, beardless perennial plant, native to the Great Lakes region of eastern North America. It has lavender blue or violet-blue flowers, a very short stem and long fan-like green leaves. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is closely related to Iris cristata.
Artemisia douglasiana, known as California mugwort, Douglas's sagewort, or dream plant, is a western North American species of aromatic herb in the sunflower family.
Asarum canadense, commonly known as Canada wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot, and broad-leaved asarabacca, is a herbaceous, perennial plant which forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forest throughout its native range in eastern North America, from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic Coast, and from southeastern Canada south to around the Fall Line in the southeastern United States.
The monotypic genus Anemopsis has only one species, Anemopsis californica, with the common names yerba mansa or lizard tail.
Veronica serpyllifolia, the thyme-leaved speedwell or thymeleaf speedwell, is a perennial flowering plant in the plantain family. It is native to Europe, but can be found elsewhere on most continents as an introduced species.
Arnica cordifolia is a species of arnica in the sunflower family, known by the common name heartleaf arnica. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to New Mexico, as far east as Ontario and Michigan. It is a plant of many habitat types, including coniferous forests, and moist mountain meadows from sea level to above 12,000 feet (3,700 m), but most commonly 4,000–11,000 feet (1,200–3,400 m).
Liatris punctata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names dotted gayfeather, dotted blazingstar, and narrow-leaved blazingstar. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout the plains of central Canada, the central United States, and northern Mexico.
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