Ginger Fossils
Ray Lampert of the Calgary Zoo and Botanical Gardens contributed this bit of information on ginger fossils.
If your interest in gingers extends into paleobotany, I've sent some photos from the Tyrell Museum of Paleontology (Drumheller, Alberta) of some fossil ginger roots they dug up in 1993.
The text displayed with the fossil ginger reads "These unusual fossils were found while quarrying a dinosaur in Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta) in 1993. Studies of the segmented rhizomes of this plant show that it was related to modern ginger. No other fossils similar to these are known from the Cretaceous period. Unnamed species."
Ray says he believes that Kevin Aulenbach at the museum was involved with its discovery and the initial investigations.
My first impression from looking at the fossil is Curcuma petiolata or C. longa, due to its branching structure, but certainly I am not expert at this. If anyone has any helpful information, please contact the museum, and let me know about it too.
If you have any additional information to contribute regarding fossil gingers, please contact me and I will post it on this web page.
Copyright © 2001 Dave Skinner