Zingiber zerumbet is native to Southeast Asia and widely naturalized in tropical regions. It is a perennial herb in the ginger family, characterized by leafy stems reaching up to six feet tall and cone-like inflorescences that turn from green to red as they mature. The small white to pale yellow flowers emerge sequentially from between the bracts at the tip of the cone. The plant is traditionally valued in Polynesian and Asian cultures for its practical and medicinal uses. The bracts of the red cone contain a mucilaginous liquid that has been used as a natural shampoo and conditioner, giving rise to its popular name "shampoo ginger." In traditional medicine, extracts from the rhizomes have been applied for digestive ailments, inflammation, and as a general tonic, with modern studies confirming anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties linked to compounds such as zerumbone. Photographed in Florida.