CLICK HERE for a detailed botanical description and identification key for this species (opens in new window). PLANT FAMILY: Costaceae BOTANICAL NAME: Chamaecostus congestiflorus FORMAL SCIENTIFIC NAME: Chamaecostus congestiflorus (Rich. ex Gagnep.) C.Specht & D.W.Stev. STATUS :Accepted CONTINENT: Neotropical SYNONYMS: Costus congestiflorus Rich. ex L.F.Gagnep. (1902), Costus congestiflorus Rich. ex L.F.Gagnep. var. ß glabrior K.Schum. (1904), BOTANICAL NOTES: I have never seen this plant and to my knowledge it is not in cultivation. I found photos consistent with this species at the following websites: http://lachaussetterouge.over-blog.com/article-costus-congestiflorus-100152453.html http://plantgenera.org/species.php?language=English&id_species=1128986 http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LaHYIGbvrnVKt-CNCz3XPQ http://jehuite.blogspot.com/2012/02/un-curso-sobre-ecologia-floral.html Schumann described this species and placed in subgenus Eucostus in Das Pflanzenreich IV, 1904. It was described as a species of subgenus Cadalvena by Dr. Paul Maas in 1972. In 2006 it was changed to the new genus Chamaecostus but was not included in the sample plants analyzed for its phylogeny. At http://www.nouragues.cnrs.fr/NourPlantes.htm - This is listed as a valid species and it is described as being a terrestrial plant in the Nouragues area in French Guiana. Also listed at http://www.jbrj.gov.br/publica/rodriguesia/Rodrig56_86/02_05_costaceae.pdf as one of three species of Costaceae found in the Reserva Ducke - near Manaus, Brazil at the junction of the Amazon and the Rio Negro. December 2013 issue of the Heliconia Society International Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 4 Thiago Andre published results of phylogeny of Chamaecostus. C. congestiflorus was in a clade with other Chamaecostus, but basal to the group along with C. fragilis. |