Scientific Name: Asarum canadense L.
Family: Aristolochiaceae (Birthwort Family)
Common name: Wild Ginger
Description: Perennial, stem-less herb growing at ground-level, flowering April-May.
Range and Habitat: Common throughout South Carolina (absent in the sandhills); found along rivers and streams in the piedmont, cove forests in the mountains, and bluffs and wet marl flats in the coastal plain.
In Porcher’s time… Wild ginger was used for the treatment of colds, coughs, and female complaints. The root was often used as a substitute for ginger.
See the historical entry on this plant as it appears in Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests