Zingiberaceae/ABC Wednesday

Spiral Ginger, Costus

Z is for Zingiberaceae

The ginger family, also known as Zingiberaceae, are a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising of 52 genera and more than 1,300 species.  These aromatic herbs grow in moist areas of the tropics and subtropics, including regions that are seasonably dry.

Many species are important ornamental plants, spices or medicinal plants.  Spices include turmeric, ginger, galangal or Thai ginger, melegueta pepper and cardamom.  Ornamental genera include the shell gingers, torch ginger, ginger lily and summer tulip.

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Ginger is one of the ancient medicines in Asia and India, it's healing properties are popular in alternative medicine.  It is particularly useful in treating chronic inflammation.  Ginger does not cause stomach irritation, instead it helps protect and heal the gut.  It helps relieve nausea and destroys a host of viruses.

At home, we love using turmeric (Curcuma longa) in cooking.  I like its peppery flavor and  mild fragrance reminiscent of orange and ginger.  It is commonly used as food coloring and is one of the basic ingredients in curry powder.  It is also used to treat digestive disorders--it improves digestion, reduce gas and bloating.  Turmeric is said to shrink enlarged hepatic ducts, so it is useful to those with liver conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis and jaundice.  It also relieves menstrual cramps and arthritic pain.

Raw ginger is often used here as a throat lozenge.  Salabat, or ginger tea, is a favorite drink in the Philippines during cold season, especially around Christmastime.  This drink is made from boiling crushed fresh ginger.  A slice of lemon or a twist of calamansi (local lemon) and sugar or honey are usually added to Salabat.  It soothes sore throat, eases cold symptoms and stomach aches.  Powdered salabat is now available commercially.

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The ornamental gingers are beautiful and this Red Cone Ginger flower is one of my favorite.  I have known this flower since I was very young.  My grandmother had a bunch of Red Cone Gingers around her garden, especially near the well that was the neighborhood's water source since the 1930's. The moist area around the well was a perfect habitat for gingers.

Red Cone Ginger, Alpinia purpurata

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Costus

 

These are Costus I spotted at my aunt's backyard.  Costus are easily distinguished from other commonly cultivated gingers because the leaves spiral around the main stem like a circular stairway, the reason why they are called "spiral gingers".  Costus spicatus is a species of herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family, although sometimes, they are listed with other gingers in the family Zingiberaceae.  A native to South America and the Caribbean, it grows in the sun if kept moist and reaches the height of 6 to 7 feet.  Leaves are about a foot long and about 4 inches wide.

It is known as Cana-de-Macaco, Spiked Spiralflag, Indian Head Ginger and French Kiss.

Costus spicatus produces a short cylindrical red cone with red-orange flowers emerging one at a time, long lasting and used as a cut flower. These plants often have close interactions with ants. The plant makes a sugary nectar which is attractive to many different kinds of ants. Ants protect the developing seeds which are under the bracts from insect enemies. Some plants have very specialized ants: they form an alliance only with one ant species, that not only get food from the plant but also get a place to nest.

“The saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last.” ~ Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

 

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