Asarum Caudatum: Wild Ginger
Our native ginger is one of our most beautiful woodland ground covers, best enjoyed for its mostly evergreen carpet of deep green heart-shaped (fragrant!) leaves, not to mention the unusual, other-worldly purplish-brown cupped flowers with long mousy tails extending from three flower lobes that hide and peek out from the foliage.
Plant care & info
Family: Aristolochiaceae
Genus: Asarum caudatum
Common Name: Wild Ginger
Commonly found in moist woodlands from the Cascades west to the Pacific Coast (Asarum caudatum). In the far southwest corner of Oregon, in the Siskiyou mountains (Asarum marmoratum).
Mostly evergreen, low growing ground cover, spreading by underground rhizomes; leaves are heart-shaped, dark green and leathery; flowers are thimble-shaped, maroon to brown in color, often nestled in amongst the foliage, with thin “tails” extending away from the blossom like rays.
Wild ginger grows natively in moist woodlands, with lots of acidic humus from the litter of fallen conifer needles. Supplying a similar condition will make your plant happy to settle in and spread by those thick rhizomes to eventually make a luxurious carpet in your woodland garden.
Open to deep shade.
6″ tall, 12″ wide.
Slugs can be a problem for Asarum caudatum in the garden.
While Asarum caudatum is by far the most common native species of wild ginger, there is a second worth mentioning: Asarum marmoratum is a beautiful but fairly obscure species that is found in Oregon in only a small portion of the far southwest corner of the state in the Siskiyou Mountains. It is similar in all ways to Asarum caudatum, but with striking silver markings on the leaves.
Find Natives for your garden
We offer a great selection of Northwest Natives from spring through fall. The plants featured are highlighted favorites, but they do not represent ALL of the plants we carry. For a more complete list, see our Northwest Native Plant List.
