Plant Datasheet for Costus barbatus

NOTE: The plant commonly found in horticulture under the name Costus barbatus is NOT REALLY COSTUS BARBATUS. It has been determined to be Costus comosus, probably var. bakeri. All photos of this plant have been transferred toPID #7586. I was not able to find any published photos of the true Costus barbatus, and there was only a dried herbarium specimen until I found this plant in 2011. The photos on this page include habitat shots of the true Costus barbatus species.

I found the true species Costus barbatus in 2011 and published an article in the Heliconia Society International quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 17, No. 4, December 2011 entitled "Will the Real Costus Barbatus Please Stand Up". It is available on my website at http://www.gingersrus.com/publications/HIS-Dec2011.pdf.

In 2014 I completed an IUCN Red List assessment for this species and it is now classified as Critically Endangered. My assessment can be found at http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/56234708/0.

In 2016 I visited a site near the village of Muñeco, Costa Rica, and found a second population of this species, growing and thriving along a remote gravel road at 1440 meters. I also revisited Lankester Gardens in 2016 and found an untended area in the back (not in the public display areas) where there was a large population of Costus barbatus mixed in with some Costus montanus plants. It is an wet area near the back wall of the gardens. Bruce Dunstan has sent me some photos he took there prior to 2008 when he visited Lankester Gardens.

ACCESSION NOTES:
R3213 collected in 2011 in Costa Rica near Rancho Redondo at 1780 meters, east of San Jose. This plant has thrived and flowered in cultivation here in 2015 and 2016.

R3368, seeds collected 2016 near Muñeco, Cartago, Costa Rica. Germinated and seedlings growing well as of December 2016.

R3369, seeds collected at Lankester Gardens, Paraiso, Cartago, Costa Rica. Germinated and seedlings growing as of December 2016.

OBSERVATION NOTES:

Muñeco, Cartago, Costa Rica, Latitude 9.668903579, Longitude -83.88273343, at 1440 meters elevation.

San José Province, Costa Rica, Latitude 9.876898385, Longitude -83.82986868, at 1780 meters elevation.

GINGERSRUS CATALOG LISTING:
The plant found in cultivation in US horticulture under the name "Costus barbatus" is NOT really Costus barbatus - it is the species Costus comosus var. bakeri. In Australia they have it correctly named. When I learned of this, I started searching for the real Costus barbatus. This species is endemic to the Central Valley area of Costa Rica in what is now the eastern suburbs of San Jose. The problem, this entire area is shopping centers and houses and urban sprawl.

False Costus barbatus

So in 2011 after following many dead end leads and after 6 trips to Costa Rica I made a last ditch effore to find this plant. I used Google Earth to search for remaining small plots of forest where the plant might be found. The short story is that I finally found it. My article about this is published in the Heliconia Society International quarterly Bulletin of December 2011.

I finally have propagated enough of this plant to be able to distribute it to others. Hardiness is untested but it seems to be a very vigorous plant and easy to grow. The location where it was found was along a small creek in a shady area so I expect it will grow best in similar conditions.