This Plant Hides Its Flower

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]This plant right here, it's got a hidden surprise. This is Acerum Candidates wild ginger. And after you get to know the leaves, it comes out pretty quickly, but there's a little surprise underneath here I want to show you. It has a flower that hides down here under the leaves, close to the ground. And that flower is kind of strange. It's usually reddish brown to purple, low to the soil, and easy to walk right past it. Now, this next piece you shouldn't ignore because wild ginger has some compounds that I think offer some safety concerns. And because of that, I'm not recommending it for harvest and to use casually. But here's where I do love it. It is a native plant, so it provides a great woodland edge or shaded garden plant because it's got beautiful leaves and you can use it to replace something like winter creeper or English ivy. Much better choice. Yeah, this plant has a really cool history, but I think the best use for it right now is to provide habitat improvement. You can get this at native plant swaps. I'm out in the national forest today, so this is not a place that I can harvest plants. So keep that in mind when you're out foraging and doing all the things. And remember, the best classroom has no walls. Join me, Craig Cotle, at natureblance.org.