Note 20 — (Continuation of Part II.) (continued 7)

Ginger is the underground stem (rhizome) of Zingiber officinal. The rhizome throws up barren leafy reed like stems 3 or 4 feet high, and occasionally flowering stems. The flowers are arranged in a cone-shaped spike, each in the axil of a large greenish-yellow bract. The corolla is orange-yellow, divided into three long segments. One of the staminodes forms a large purple three-lobed lip. Ginger is probably a native of tropical Asia, but is now cultivated in all warm countries. The name occurs in a list of imports into Alexandria in the second century, and during the middle ages was evidently an important article of commerce. It is often mentioned in the Old English leech-books of the eleventh century; and during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was the commonest spice, next to pepper, though 1 lb. of it cost as much as a sheep, 1s. 7d. (Rogers, "History of Agriculture and Prices in England.")