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Aristolochiaceae
Wild Ginger
Asarum canadense
Hidden beauty and quiet endurance.
- Family
- Aristolochiaceae
- Genus
- Asarum
- Native to
- eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Early Spring
- Type
- rhizomatous perennial
- Height
- 10–20 cm
- Sunlight
- full to part shade
- Soil
- moist, humus-rich
- Water
- medium to high
- Hardiness
- 3–7
- Lifespan
- long-lived perennial groundcover
Did you know
- The cup-shaped flowers hide at ground level beneath the heart-shaped leaves — easy to miss entirely.
- Ground-dwelling beetles and flies are the main pollinators, drawn by the flower's slightly fetid scent.
- Crushed rhizomes smell strongly of ginger but contain aristolochic acid and are not safe to eat.
- The seeds carry oily appendages called elaiosomes that ants haul home — a dispersal trick called myrmecochory.
- It is unrelated to true culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale), which is in a different plant family entirely.
Color meanings
Maroon
secret depth
Brown
earthy mystery