“The inspiration for this paining is a plant from the ginger family, Zingiber spectabile, commonly called the beehive ginger because it’s horn-shaped inflorescence resembles a beehive.
Gingers are related to bananas, heliconias, birds-of-paradise, and cannas and include over twelve hundred different species. Aside from their exotic beauty, ginger species yield some of the world’s most important traditional spices and medicines in the ethnobotanical history of Asia.
The beehive ginger is used to treat burns, headaches, back pain and as an agent in food preservation. The leaves are pounded into a thick paste and applied.
Also native to Southeast Asia and similar in appearance to the beehive ginger, is Zingiber zerbumbet. Widely known around the world as the "Shampoo Ginger" for the milky substance in the cones, it is in fact used as a shampoo in Asia and Hawaii, and as an ingredient in several commercial shampoos. In addition, it has been used as a medicine for sprains, indigestion and toothaches.”
