Zingiber | |
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Zingiber officinale 1896 illustration [1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Zingiberales |
Family: | Zingiberaceae |
Subfamily: | Zingiberoideae |
Tribe: | Zingibereae |
Genus: | Zingiber Mill., 1754 |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Zingiber is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. It is native to China, the Indian subcontinent, New Guinea, and Southeast Asia, especially Thailand. [2] [3] [4] [5] It contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their culinary value. The most well known species are Z. officinale and Z. mioga , two garden gingers. The genus name comes from Latin borrowing the Tamil name for the first species. [6]
Each ginger species has a different culinary usage; for example, myoga is valued for the stem and flowers. Garden ginger's rhizome is the classic spice "ginger", and may be used whole, candied (known commonly as crystallized ginger), or dried and powdered. Other popular gingers used in cooking include cardamom and turmeric, [7] though neither of these examples is a "true ginger" – they belong to different genera in the family Zingiberaceae.
Plants of the World Online currently includes: [8]