1341.000 Zingiber Boehm.

Herbs, rhizomes branched, tuberous, aromatic; pseudostems erect, leafy. Leaves distichous, held in a plane parallel to rhizome; lamina oblong to linear; petiole swollen. Inflorescence conical, arising from rhizomes on peduncle clothed in scale-like sheaths, rarely breaking through leaf sheaths without peduncle; bracts closely imbricate, green or coloured, 1-flowered, persistent; bracteoles not tubular; calyx tubular, split on one side, apex 3-toothed; corolla tube slender, mid-lobe white or cream, usually wider than lateral lobes. Fruit capsules, loculicidally or irregularly dehiscent. Seeds black, covered by white aril.

Worldwide: Species 142 in tropical and sub-tropical Asia.

Zimbabwe: 2 cultivated taxa.