Dave Skinner is a graduate of the University of Florida and made his career as a government administrator working in an office. He is now retired and able to enjoy his new “career” studying a group of tropical plants, closely related to gingers, and found in the American tropics. They are part of the plant family Costaceae, with an English common name of “spiral ginger” because the leaves form a spiral around the stems of the plants. These plants are known in most Spanish speaking Latin American countries as “caña agria” or sour cane and the local people use them to make a tea for kidney ailments. In Puerto Rico it is called “planta insulina“. In southern Mexico and parts of Guatemala and El Salvador there is a red flowered species called “caña roja del Cristo“.
Dave has traveled extensively in many Latin American countries and he writes articles describing his experiences, the places he has traveled and his love for the people – los campesinos – who live where these plants are found.
Much more information about these plants can be found on his website at www.gingersrus.com.