Wild/yellow ginger

Wild ginger is a ginger scented perennial herb that grows up to 3 metres tall.

Description

• Leaves are shiny, slightly hanging and alternate.

• Flowers are scented, appearing on spikes between January – March. They are yellow with red stamens in H. gardnerianum and creamy yellow in H. flavescens.

• Fruits are fleshy and orange and seeds are scarlet red.

• Seed is dispersed by birds and possums and via rhizomes in dumped vegetation, water, contaminated machinery and soil movement.

• Habitats include forest, forest and riparian margins, shrublands, fernland.

What you need to know

Wild ginger forms dense stands, supressing native vegetation and preventing recruitment. It has the potential to change forest composition and may increase erosion and alter decomposition and nutrient cycling patterns.

Management approach

Wild ginger is declared an unwanted organism by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) because it is capable of causing harm to the natural environment, physical resources or human health in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

These species pose a high risk to our environment, economy, recreation, and cultural values.

Rules

Any species declared a pest, including unwanted organisms, cannot be sold or be in a place where plants are being sold. Pest plants cannot be propagated, bred, or multiplied, communicated, released, or cause to be released, or otherwise spread.

Control

Do not attempt to undertake control of wild ginger yourself. Report any sightings to us.