Plant Datasheet for Costus allenii

The holotype was collected by P. H. Allen in 1946 at Camp Pina in Colon, Panama. This is on the western side of the Lago Gatun near the town of Escoval and in the southern most part of the San Lorenzon National Park.

Costus allenii is a fairly common plant in Panama based on the collection records at GBIF. It is also recorded in parts of Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela. It seems to be quite variable in form based on the diversity of the plants that have been det'd as C. allenii.

Dr. Maas mentioned in his monograph a form with plicate leaves from the Santa Fe area of Panama. See PID 7299 for details.

Some recorded collections of Costus allenii were along the Rio Guanache in Panama. In 2012 I went there looking for the species Costus vinosus, which has now disappeared from that locality. I did see a plant there that is likely the one that has been det'd as C. allenii. It appeared to me at the time to be an unusually hairy form of Costus laevis.

In 2012 I was also in Colombia and visited the botanical garden at Quindio. There was a plant there that was collected at Bahia Solano that best matches the description of Costus allenii. Then in April of 2014 I went to Bahia Solano, to the Jardin Botanico del Pacifico and saw this same species in habitat and in flower at Punta Huina. I believe this to be the Colombian form of Costus allenii. See PID 7544 for more details.

See also PID7544 from Bahia Solano Colombia, and PID 7299 "Sante Fe Form" from El Cope and Santa Fe, Panama.

A specimen at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, believed to be Costus allenii, was analyzed from a spent inflorescence. The bracts were 2.5 cm long by 2.3 cm wide, pubescent, bracteoles 1.3 cm long by .5 cm wide, extending slightly beyond calyx, similarly pubescent, and calyx was very short, .5 cm long by .7 cm wide, also pubescent. Data insufficient to determine whether this is Costus allenii. Sent photos to Paul Maas and he said he thought the plant at Fairchild Gardens is C. allenii.
Photos to the left taken at Fairchild is probably also C. allenii, according to PJM Maas. Visited Fairchild July 2003 and discussed this plant with David Bar-zvi. He agrees it is probably C. allenii, and gave me a spent inflo. to examine. (additional pictures marked C. allenii from Fairchild). NOTE: This plant and several on the internet by Barry Hammel that are tagged as C. allenii do NOT have the dense hairs as described by Maas.

http://www.cx.unibe.ch/esh/ringvorlesung/Roy_TPS1999.pdf - (SEE PHOTOS ON WEBSITE) Fig. 3. Possible examples of Müllerian mimicry. (a) Costus allenii and (b) Costus laevis (Zingiberaceae) co-flower in central Panama. These species require visitation for full seed set, and share the same pollinator (Euglossa imperialis), which flies indiscriminately between flowers of the two species7. The flowers are nearly identical in color, morphology and nectar production, but they are nonetheless different species; the plants differ in vegetative characters and no hybrids form between them. Furthermore, recent molecular work has established that these are not closely related species, and thus their similarity is not the result of a close relationship (D. Schemske, pers. Commun.). It is hypothesized that low flower density, which is compounded by high levels of flower predation, combined with a density-sensitive pollinator, selected for similarity between these species7. Unfortunately, seed set in single species versus mixed species plots has not been measured, so it is not known whether the similarity between these species facilitates reproduction. Equal visitation rates in mixtures might not always add up to the fitness achieved by individuals in pure patches because improper pollen transfer between species can reduce seed set21–23,54. Photographs (a) and (b) by Doug Schemske.

In Panama: http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/index/panamaaC.html - Elevation: below 1000 mProvince Distribution: Canal Area, Coclé, Colón, Panamá, Veraguas Range outside Panama: Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela (NOTE: province distribution map includes El Valle area for this species.)

UPDATE: In November 2015 I spent a couple of weeks in central Panama and found that Costus allenii is very common in this region. I saw many examples in the Panama Canal area north of Gamboa, Santa Rita Ridge and the Chagres National Park along the Rio Boqueron. They mostly occurred at the higher elevations along the trail (above 100 meters). This is very close to the type locality. Plants were also seen at Santa Rita.

ACCESSION NOTES:
R2851 from Fairchild Gardens did not survive. Photos this page.

R2959 possibly the "Santa Fe form" mentioned by Maas. This one collected near Santa Fe, Panama. Flowered in 2003, but plant was later lost. Photos at PID7299

R3136 collected at El Cope, Panama. This appears to be the "Santa Fe form" but has not yet flowered. Photos at PID7299

R3226 collected in Anchicaya, Colombia. Only the lower bracts are appendaged and this is likely to be Costus allenii. Photos atPID7550

R3329 from Quindio did not survive. R3305 from the Jardin Botanico del Pacifico did not survive. Photos at PID7544

R3350 seeds collected near Gamboa not far from the type locality on the Panama Canal, germinated and growing very slowly as of Dec. 2016. Photos this page.

OBSERVATION NOTES:

Gamboa Pipeline Road, Colon, Panama, Latitude 9.1613, Longitude -79.7547, at 120 meters elevation.

Punta Huina, Bahía Solano, Choco, Colombia, Latitude 6.25904, Longitude -77.45564, at 75 meters elevation.

Rio Guanche, Colon, Panama, Latitude 9.5, Longitude -79.66, at 50 meters elevation.

La Mesa, El Valle de Anton, Panama, Latitude 8.63028, Longitude -80.10475, at 800 meters elevation.