The Herbarium
Print plate
Ginger botanical plate

Herb. No. 003 · Zingiberaceae

RangeFig. atlas
Approximate native range — a teaching atlas, not a survey

A tropical Asian rhizome. Outdoor crop only where winters stay warm.

Native · Southeast Asia · South Asia

Native Also grown
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Ginger

Zingiber officinale

Medicinal herbsKitchenHarvest

A tropical rhizome for queasy stomachs, cold hands, and dull inflammatory ache.

Ginger has been in Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Arabic formularies for millennia. The rhizome's gingerols and shogaols are pungent carminatives and mild anti-emetics. Modern trials support it for pregnancy nausea (with obstetric advice), motion sickness, and some postoperative nausea. Fresh and dried ginger are not interchangeable in dose.

Flavor

Hot, citrus-pine pungency; fresh is juicier, dried is sharper and more peppery.

Parts used

Rhizome

Helpful

  • Kitchen-cupboard medicine
  • Good evidence for several kinds of nausea
  • Warms without being a stimulant

Cautions

  • Heartburn at high dose
  • Can thin blood modestly
  • Needs a long warm season to grow outdoors

Field assistant

Ask about traditional use, safety, or the law. The assistant will not teach illegal cultivation or give medical orders.

Related symptoms

nauseamotion sicknessindigestioncrampspoor circulationinflammation

Teas with this plant

Remedies with this plant

  • After-dinner settle

    Adult: one 8 oz cup after the meal. Seed teas: ½ tsp crushed seed. Ginger: 6–8 thin slices in 12 oz, sipped. Not three kinds at once.

  • Ginger for quease

    Adult: 2–3 g fresh rhizome (a thumb of coins) per cup, up to 2 cups in a queasy day. Candied: one or two small cubes, not the bag.

  • First-scratch cold tray

    Elderberry: follow the jar; typically 1 tsp cooked syrup, 2–3 times, 2–3 days. Ginger: one 8–12 oz cup, 2–3 times. Garlic: 1 crushed culinary clove in food, once or twice. Yarrow: one 8 oz cup, once.

  • Turmeric-ginger kitchen

    Adult food: ½ tsp (about 1–2 g) turmeric with fat, once daily in a meal. Ginger: food amounts or one 8 oz cup. Devil’s claw: follow the cultivated label; do not improvise a desert harvest.

  • Garlic in honey

    Adult: 1 culinary clove in honey, 1–2 times a day, 2–3 days. Honey not for infants under 1 year.

Harvest this plant

When to cut, how to dry, and how to store it — garden and kitchen crops only.

Open harvest notes