The Wild Ginger plant that is native to our area is not related at all to the plant that produces the roots we use in cooking. In fact, wild ginger is toxic.
John Clayton of early Williamsburg named the plant “Ginger” because the variety he found has a similar smell to culinary ginger. Worldwide, there are about 1,600 varieties.
This woodland plant has attractive foliage and makes a great ground cover and landscaping plant for shady and semi-shady areas.
Many essential oils can be extracted from the plant with quite a few different scents such as ginger (obviously), pine and rose. Some are used as insecticides.
Please do not ingest this plant in any form! It may taste and smell nice, but it has the potential to cause permanent kidney damage.
Enjoy it in your garden – not in your stomach.