Clark's Oregon Wildflower Blog: In Search of the Elusive Wild Ginger

I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a bucket list of wildflowers that I must see before heading off to that meadow in the sky. In fact, if you read this journal from time to time, you'll know I'm easy to please - even common weeds have made it into my posts! That said, there are two native flowers that I've wanted to capture for several years (perhaps decades), but never have. One of these is Bitterroot (Lewisia redivia) and the other is Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum), also called Long-Tailed Ginger.

Well I am pleased to report that on Wednesday I literally stumbled across a blooming Wild Ginger. And the humorous aspect of this find is that I owe it all to disc golf. LOL. Kyle and I were at Stub Stewart State park for disc golf day. The course at this park is very challenging and I have played it numerous times. It is entirely in the forest and there is plenty of elevation change over the 18 holes. Just after making basket #10, while walking over #11 tee, I noticed a large spread of ginger leaves along the trail. The trees are mostly conifers in this part of the course, so it was quite shady. I moved a few of the leaves over to check for blooms and viola, found a nearly opened bloom! I took a few photos with my S100 and searched around for an open bloom, but to no avail.

After launching my drive for basket #11 it was a good 100 foot walk to find the disc. When I arrived at the disc, just a couple of feet away was another patch of ginger. With excitement, I again pulled back the leaves to reveal two flowers in full bloom! Wow...

Luckily there were no other golfers behind me. I set up some tiny twigs to hold the leave back and experimented with my handkerchief over the flash to get the right exposure and focus. All in all, the results look very accurate. During the last 7 holes, my game improved and I did spot one more blooming ginger, so I feel fortunate to have actually found these few blooms!

Almost any forest hiker has probably seen Wild Ginger growing along moist, shady trails from coastal elevations to the mountains. It's a perennial ground cover with dark, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped leaves that almost look artificial they are so rich looking. What makes the flower so elusive is that it appears under the leaves and is brown, so it is very hard to spot. Turns out this is because ants or flies are the pollinators, so they need to be ground level with the flower.

The flower is very exotic-looking, almost like a misshapen orchid, or a menacing alien from a sci-fi movie. It's quite elegant as well, especially in looking at the interior.

It's important to note that while wild ginger roots are edible (with proper care) and the plant may smell like store-bought ginger root, these plants are not related. Commercial ginger root (Zingiber officinale) is from a tropical plant, originally from southern China. There are several species called Wild Ginger, so I would not chow down on these before researching further. See links below for more information.