Bill's Botanical Forays

The Long-tailed Ginger (Asarum caudatum Lindl.) is a mat-forming evergreen plant that grow  in moist places on forest floors.

It  naturally occurs in two separate regions in the Pacific Northwest. One region is west of the Cascade crest from SW British Columbia to NW California, and the other region is in the interior and runs from SE British Columbia through E Washington to NE Oregon and east to the extreme Western edge of Montana.

The plant’s rhizomes run along the surface of the soil among the leaf litter. The heart-shaped evergreen leaves arise generally in pairs from the rhizomes at nodes generally in pairs. The flowers grow singly from the end of the rhizomes, are dark maroon or rarely green in color, the three calyx tips taper into long tails, and the inner surface of flower tube white has one red horizontal stripe.

The plants has some limited medicinal value and gives off a ginger-like scent when the rhizome or leaves are crushed or broken.

 

 

 

 

Photos taken at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, Bellevue, Washington.