WILD GINGER (Asarum canadense), called also Canada snake-root and colic-root, a small North American herb of the birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae), native to rich woods from New Brunswick to Manitoba and southward to North Carolina and Kansas. It is a stemless perennial with a creeping aromatic root-stock having the flavour of ginger. From this usually rise two large kidney-shaped or heart-shaped leaves, 4 in. to 7 in. broad, on nearly erect leaf-stalks 6 in. to 12 in. long. On a short stalk between the bases of the two leaf-stalks is borne a single somewhat bell-shaped, brownish-purple flower, about an inch broad, with three small more or less pointed lobes on the rim.
About 9 other species of wild ginger are found in the United States, and 3 species are native to the Pacific coast. Among these are the halberd-leaved wild ginger (A. arifolia), found from Vir ginia and Tennessee southward, and the western wild ginger (A. caudatum), native to the coast redwood belt of California and northward to British Columbia. The European species is asara bacca (q.v.).