Native Ginger (Alpina caerulea)
Native Ginger is a fast-growing edible native herb, related to galangal and is known in the gardening world as a good bush tucker plant. With broad sword-shaped green leaves with red leaf reverses, it grows up to 3 metres tall and is a hardy plant. Native ginger often occurs in clumps in moist forest areas growing north from around Gosford, extending up the coast into Queensland, all the way to Cape York.
It is one of two species of Native Ginger in our area and can be seen locally in the Council managed bushland reserves along Kooloonbung, Wrights and Yarranabee Creeks.
The leaves often have circular or semi-circular holes along their margins. These are made by the female leafcutter bee (genus Megachile), which uses the leaf to line her nest.
The fruit is a spherical capsule, to 1cm across, with a brittle blue outer covering when mature. The plant prefers fertile soils in shade or semi shade and is useful as an understorey plant beneath a relatively dense tree canopy. It seems to be avoided by feral deer and is usually available at the Landcare Nursery.
