2010 



ZINGIBER 



ZINNIA 



Britain imported 5,000,000 pounds of Ginger valued at 

 $620,000. Medicinal Ginger is prepared from the dried 

 "root;" condimental Ginger from the green. Candied 

 Ginger is made from carefully selected, succulent young 

 rhizomes which are washed and peeled and then pre- 

 served in jars of syrup. Housewives often preserve 

 their own Ginger; it is important to have the hands pro- 

 tected while scraping the roots or they will "burn" for 

 days. Ginger probably could be cultivated commer- 

 cially in southern Florida and California. In Florida it 

 thrives in rich soil and partial shade, and the roots can 

 be dug and used at any time. The plant is cultivated 



2791. Zingiber officinale 



commercially even in localities where it is necessary to 

 lift the roots and store them over the cool season, as in 

 the lower Himalayas. In the West Indies Ginger may 

 be cultivated up to an altitude of 3,500 feet. 



Zingibers are occasionally cultivated as stove decora- 

 tive plants. The shoots having a reed-like appearance, 

 they may often be used to good advantage in arranging 

 plants for artistic effects. They are of the easiest cul- 

 ture. Propagation is effected by division of the rhizomes 

 in spring. These should be potted in fibrous loam to 

 which a third of well-decomposed cow or sheep i 



2792. Flower of th& 

 Gineer plant (X K). 



has been added. Water should be given sparingly until 

 the shoots have well developed, when they should have 

 an abundance. They are also benefited by an occasional 

 watering with weak liquid manure water. Towards the 

 end of summer the shoots will begin to mature, when 

 the water supply should be di- 

 minished, and as soon as the 

 plants are ripened off the pots 

 may be stored either under the 

 greenhouse stages or in some 

 other convenient place, where 

 they should be kept almost dry 

 for the winter. 



Zingiber may be taken as 

 the typical genus of the sin- 

 gular family Scitaminacese, with 

 its 36 genera and 450 species. 

 Bentham and Hooker state that 

 it is an extremely natural group, 

 well marked in leaf as well as 

 flower, and not connected with 

 any other family by a single 

 intermediate genus. The dis- 

 tinguishing feature of the fam- 

 ily largely resides in the sta- 

 mens. Sometimes there are 5 stamens and a sixth im- 

 perfect one; sometimes there is only one perfect stamen 

 and all the staminodes are petal-like. The anthers are 

 sometimes 2-celled, sometimes composed of one cell 

 borne on the margin of the connective. In Zingiber and 

 others the connective is produced into a long spur. Ge- 

 neric characters: rhizome horizontal, tuberous: Ivs. ob- 

 long-lanceolate, clasping the stem by their long sheaths: 

 spikes usually radical, rarely lateral or terminal on the 

 leafy stem: calyx cylindric, shortly 3-lobed; corolla- 

 segments lanceolate, upper concave; lateral staminodes 

 none or adnate to the lip; anther-cells contiguous; crest 

 narrow, as long as the cells. Thirty species, native to 

 Old World tropics. Compare Canna and Musa 



officinale, Rose. Ginger. Figs. 2791-93. Rootstock' 

 biennial, bearing many sessile tubers: stem 3-4 ft. high, 

 in tropics: lvs. 6-13, in. long, lanceolate, glabrous be- 

 neath: spike 2-3x 1 in., oblong, produced from the root- 

 stock on peduncles %-\ ft. long, with sheathing, scari- 

 ous bracts about 1 in. long: corolla-segments under 1 in. 

 long; stamen dark purple. 

 Gn. 26, p. 284. 



Z. coraUtnum, Hance, is a 



Chinese species offered by Rea- 

 soner Bros, in 1889 but probably 

 not in cultivation now. It is 

 not described in anv work to 

 which the undersigned have ac- 

 cess. — Z. Zerumbet, Roseoe, is 

 cult, and escaped in Porto Rico. 

 It has broadly lanceolate lvs. 

 and large pale yel low Ms. ; about 

 4 feet. B.M. 2000. 

 E. J. Canning and W. M. 



ZlNNIA (Johanu Gott- 

 fried Zinn, 1727-1759, pro- 

 fessor of botany at Gottin- 

 gen). Compdsitce. Youth - 

 and - Old - Age. Plate L. 

 The familiar Zinnias, Figs. 

 2704-06, are hardy annual 

 plants, growing a foot or 

 more high and covered from 

 July until the first hard 

 frost with double flowers 2 

 in. or more across. At least 

 fifteen well-marked colors 

 are commonly seen in Zin- 

 nias,— white, sulfur, yellow, 

 golden yellow, orange, scar- 

 let-orange, scarlet, flesh- 

 color, lilac, rose, magenta, 

 crimson, violet, purple and 

 dark purple. There are also 

 variegated forms, but the 

 solid colors are most popular. The Zinnia is rich in 

 shades of purple and orange, but lacks the charming 

 blue and pink of the China aster and is poor in reds. 



2793 



Commercial roots of 

 Gineer. as seen in the 

 stores (X %). 



