wild ginger

American  

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Asarum, of the birthwort family, especially A. canadense, a woodland plant of eastern North America, having two heart-shaped leaves, a solitary reddish-brown flower, and a pungent rhizome.

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wild ginger British  

noun

1. a North American plant, Asarum canadense, having a solitary brownish flower and an aromatic root: family Aristolochiaceae See also asarabacca asarum

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Etymology

Origin of wild ginger

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Thick vegetation lines the trail, including giant cottonwood, creek dogwood, willow and red cedar trees, as well as various species of fern, red columbine, thistle, wild ginger and dozens of other native plants.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 11, 2022

In “The Spring Ephemerals,” a trillium belongs to a complex ecosystem of “rue anemone, masses // of colt’s foot, wild ginger, blood root and may- / apples, bracken and fiddlehead fern.”

From The New Yorker • Apr. 1, 2019

Less well known are plants such as wild ginger, which tastes of spearmint and black pepper; ginseng; sumac; and spicebush, a wild variety of allspice.

From Washington Post • Mar. 28, 2016

The shoestring road, with 617 switchback bends and 56 one-way bridges, bumples through a jungle of bamboo, fern, maune loa vines, breadfruit, mango, banyan, banana, kukui and hau trees, perfumed by guava and wild ginger.

From Time Magazine Archive

My fingers played among the herbs in my basket: rosemary, rue, the root of wild ginger, and creeping thyme.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein