Asarum canadense - Wild Ginger

Sizes available: HPP #1

Basics: zones 3-7, 4-10" x 6-18", part shade to full shade, the fascinating, secretive brownish-red flower is hidden under the leaves in mid-spring. Get down on your knees and check it out! Although every resource says this plant wants consistent moisture, I have found it to be quite adaptable to drier shade. Wild ginger does like a neutral to acidic woodland soil with some richness to it.

Common names: Wild Ginger, Catfoot, Broad-leaved Asarabacca, Woodland Ginger, Sturgeon Potato, Namepin

Family: Aristolochiaceae

Origin/Distribution: eastern North America From Quebec and New Brunswick to Ontario and Minnesota south to Florida and Louisiana, native to Maine

Habitat: shady moist woods and woodland slopes, deciduous understory

More: Wild ginger holds its foliage well through the summer so it's a good companion for spring ephemerals. It has the ability to shade out some invasive like Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). A potential colony-former with velvety, kidney-shaped leaves. The seeds are distributed by ants and it also spreads by rhizome, Deer resistant. The root has been used medicinally, and the plant contains the anti-tumor compound aristolochic acid. However, some sources say it has potentially carcinogenic properties as well. The roots have also been used as a spice, mostly to mask the muddy flavors of certain fish or make meats palatable/digestible.

Source: Van Berkum or Honey Petal Plants

Photo credits: Frank Meuschke of Shelterwood Gardens; also Wikimedia Commons