Zingiberaceae

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Zingiberaceae (ginger, cardamom, turmeric) The ginger family, comprising rhizomatous herbs, many of which are huge, and spicy in all their parts. The leaves have pinnate nervation and a sheathing base with a 2-ranked ligule. The aerial stems are oblique, but in Costus and its related genera spiral. Inflorescences are borne either on leafy stems or separately from the rhizome. There are 53 genera, with about 1200 species, occurring, mostly in rain forest, throughout the tropics but chiefly in Indo-Malaysia.

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