Don't let its good looks fool you.
Wild ginger threatens to smother our native forests.
The plant was introduced to New Zealand from India in the 1890s. It rapidly spread throughout Auckland, Coromandel and Northland. The warm moist climate of the upper North Island favoured the initial spread of the plant and it is now a problem in parts of the top of the South Island, and on the West Coast. There are two types of wild ginger. This plant grows up to two metres in height.