The genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Zingiber contains the true ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

s, a set of plants with medicinal and culinary value in many parts of the world. The most well-known is Z. officinale

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

, garden ginger.

Culinary

Each ginger species has a different culinary usage; for example, myoga

Myoga

Myōga or myoga ginger is an herbaceous, deciduous, perennial native to Japan and southern part of Korea that is grown for its edible flower buds and flavorful shoots. Flower buds are finely shredded and used in Japanese cuisine as a garnish for miso soup, sunomono and dishes such as roasted...

 is valued for the stem and flowers. Garden ginger's rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 is the classic spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

 "ginger", and may be used whole, candied (known commonly as crystallized ginger), or dried and powdered. Other popular ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

s used in cooking include cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

 and turmeric

Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...

, though neither of these examples is a "true ginger" - they belong to different genera in the Zingiberaceae

Zingiberaceae

Zingiberaceae, or the Ginger family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising ca. 52 genera and more than 1300 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas.Many species are important...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

.

Species

The Plant List

The Plant List

The Plant List is a list of botanical names of species of plants, available on the world wide web. It was created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden...

 records the following accepted names for Zingiber species:

• Zingiber acuminatum Valeton
• Zingiber albiflorum R.M.Sm.
• Zingiber apoense Elmer
• Zingiber argenteum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber atrorubens Gagnep.
• Zingiber aurantiacum (Holttum) Theilade
• Zingiber banhaoense Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber barbatum Wall.
• Zingiber bisectum D.Fang
• Zingiber bradleyanum Craib
• Zingiber brevifolium N.E.Br.
• Zingiber bulusanense Elmer
• Zingiber capitatum Roxb.
• Zingiber cernuum Dalzell
• Zingiber chlorobracteatum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber chrysanthum Roscoe
• Zingiber chrysostachys Ridl.
• Zingiber citriodorum Theilade & Mood
• Zingiber clarkei King ex Baker
• Zingiber cochleariforme D.Fang
• Zingiber collinsii Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber coloratum N.E.Br.
• Zingiber corallinum Hance
• Zingiber curtisii Holttum
• Zingiber cylindricum Thwaites
• Zingiber densissimum S.Q.Tong & Y.M.Xia
• Zingiber eberhardtii Gagnep.
• Zingiber eborinum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber elatior (Ridl.) Theilade
• Zingiber elatum Roxb.
• Zingiber ellipticum (S.Q.Tong & Y.M.Xia) Q.G.Wu & T.L.Wu
• Zingiber flagelliforme Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber flammeum Theilade & Mood
• Zingiber flavomaculosum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber flavovirens Theilade
• Zingiber fragile S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber fraseri Theilade
• Zingiber georgeae Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber gracile Jack
• Zingiber gramineum Noronha ex Blume
• Zingiber griffithii Baker
• Zingiber guangxiense D.Fang
• Zingiber gulinense Y.M.Xia
• Zingiber idae Triboun & K.Larsen
• Zingiber incomptum B.L.Burtt & R.M.Sm.
• Zingiber inflexum Blume
• Zingiber integrilabrum Hance
• Zingiber integrum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber intermedium Baker
• Zingiber junceum Gagnep.
• Zingiber kawagoii Hayata
• Zingiber kelabitianum Theilade & H.Chr.
• Zingiber kerrii Craib
• Zingiber kunstleri King ex Ridl.
• Zingiber lambii Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber laoticum Gagnep.
• Zingiber larsenii Theilade
• Zingiber latifolium Theilade & Mood
• Zingiber leptorrhizum D.Fang
• Zingiber leptostachyum Valeton
• Zingiber ligulatum Roxb.
• Zingiber lingyunense D.Fang
• Zingiber loerzingii Valeton
• Zingiber longibracteatum Theilade
• Zingiber longiglande D.Fang & D.H.Qin
• Zingiber longiligulatum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber longipedunculatum Ridl.
• Zingiber longyanjiang Z.Y.Zhu
• Zingiber macradenium K.Schum.
• Zingiber macrocephalum (Zoll.) K.Schum.
• Zingiber macroglossum Valeton
• Zingiber macrorrhynchus K.Schum.
• Zingiber malaysianum C.K.Lim : black ginger
• Zingiber marginatum Roxb.
• Zingiber martinii R.M.Sm.
• Zingiber matutumense Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber mekongense Gagnep.
• Zingiber menghaiense S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber mioga (Thunb.) Roscoe : mioga ginger
• Zingiber molle Ridl.
• Zingiber monglaense S.J.Chen & Z.Y.Chen
• Zingiber monophyllum Gagnep.
• Zingiber montanum (J.König) Link ex A.Dietr. Cassumunar ginger
  Zingiber cassumunar
  Cassumunar ginger: Zingiber cassumunar, now thought to be a synonym of Zingiber montanum Link ex A.Dietr. , is a species of plant in the ginger family and is also a relative of galangal...
  
  
    [ Syn. Z. (= A. momum) cassumunar; Z. purpureum ]
• Zingiber multibracteatum Holttum
• Zingiber neesanum (J.Graham) Ramamoorthy
• Zingiber neglectum Valeton
• Zingiber negrosense Elmer
• Zingiber neotruncatum T.L.Wu, K.Larsen & Turland
• Zingiber newmanii Theilade & Mood
• Zingiber nigrimaculatum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber nimmonii (J.Graham) Dalzell
• Zingiber niveum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber nudicarpum D.Fang
• Zingiber odoriferum Blume
• Zingiber officinale
  Ginger
  Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
  
   Roscoe : ginger
• Zingiber oligophyllum K.Schum.
• Zingiber olivaceum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber orbiculatum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber ottensii Valeton
• Zingiber pachysiphon B.L.Burtt & R.M.Sm.
• Zingiber panduratum Roxb.
• Zingiber papuanum Valeton
• Zingiber pardocheilum Wall. ex Baker
• Zingiber parishii Hook.f.
• Zingiber paucipunctatum D.Fang
• Zingiber pellitum Gagnep.
• Zingiber pendulum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber peninsulare Theilade
• Zingiber petiolatum (Holttum) Theilade
• Zingiber phillippsiae Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber phumiangense Chaveer. & Mokkamul
• Zingiber pleiostachyum K.Schum.
• Zingiber porphyrosphaerum K.Schum.
• Zingiber pseudopungens R.M.Sm.
• Zingiber puberulum Ridl.
• Zingiber pubisquama Ridl.
• Zingiber raja C.K.Lim & Kharuk.
• Zingiber recurvatum S.Q.Tong & Y.M.Xia
• Zingiber roseum (Roxb.) Roscoe
• Zingiber rubens Roxb.
• Zingiber rufopilosum Gagnep.
• Zingiber simaoense Y.Y.Qian
• Zingiber smilesianum Craib
• Zingiber spectabile Griff. : beehive ginger
• Zingiber squarrosum Roxb.
• Zingiber stenostachys K.Schum.
• Zingiber stipitatum S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber striolatum Diels
• Zingiber sulphureum Burkill ex Theilade
• Zingiber thorelii Gagnep.
• Zingiber tuanjuum Z.Y.Zhu
• Zingiber vanlithianum Koord.
• Zingiber velutinum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber vinosum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber viridiflavum Mood & Theilade
• Zingiber wandingense S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber wightianum Thwaites
• Zingiber wrayi Prain ex Ridl.
• Zingiber yingjiangense S.Q.Tong
• Zingiber yunnanense S.Q.Tong & X.Z.Liu
• Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Sm. : shampoo ginger