Quick Characteristics:
| Height: | 45-80 cm (1.5-2.6 ft) |
| Flower Colors: | yellow, pink |
| Flower Season: | early autumn to mid autumn |
| Life form: | deciduous rhizome |
| Climate: | USDA Zone 7-10 |
Zingiber mioga (Thunb.) Roscoe is a deciduous perennial native to Japan, Taiwan and China. The young inflorescences are eaten in all of its range, which has spawned commercial growth in New Zealand and Australia. It is one of the hardiest Zingiberaceae (some reports see it hardy to USDA Zone 6), filling places in light shade with its tropical-looking foliage alone in spring and summer. The inflorescences break through the ground in early fall a few centimeters away from the stems, bearing relatively large, short lived flowers just above ground level. The basic form has yellow flowers, but the now common cultivar 'Crûg's Zing', collected by Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones on a Korean Island in 1997, adds a pink tinge to a cream background. Photos show a plant of said cultivar grown by Martin Bohnet.
