Gingers of Peninsula Malaysia & Singapore

The Gingers are an important part of the tropical flora, and appreciated and used worldwide, whether as ornamentals, spices or in medicinal preparations. The large and diverse family of the Gingers is especially significant to the Malesian area, a botanically distinct region comprising Malaysia, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Singapore, where the very many species are represented by forms ranging from small forest-floor plants to epiphytic forms and giant herbs reaching several metres high. Most writings on Gingers in the southeast Asian tropics have been scientific papers published in journals or short general articles highlighting the general importance of the group. For the first time, this book brings together the writings of specialists on various aspects of the Ginger family and displays the beauty and importance of Gingers in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, where there has been a strong interest in the study of wild gingers since the eras of Ridley and HoItturn. As this book reveals, there is fascinating form combined with great beauty in a group which, as modern studies indicate, continues to hold promise of interesting commercial possibilities. Gingers have been a part of the Asian cultures as long as those cultures can be recalled. This has helped to highlight a group that symbolises the immense biodiversity of rain forests, on which active scientific studies are still being conducted, and which must, like other special aspects of rain forests, receive due conservation attention.