Plant Datasheet for Costus plicatus

I have seen this species in the wild on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica near Rancho Quemado (Reinaldo Aquilar's finca) and in cultivation at La Gamba Research Station. Maas reports it near Rio Esquinas in Costa Rica and in Panama at Santa Fe and also on the Caribbean side where it seems it is co-located with Costus nitidus in Bocas del Toro. I question whether these two should be lumped together as they are so similar. See Costus nitidus (PID 4607) for further discussion.

In 2014 I completed an IUCN Red List assessment for this species and it is now classified as Least Concern. My assessment rationale can be found at http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/56347879/0.

ACCESSION NOTES:
R3211 is from the botanical garden at Tropenstation La Gamba, but was collected locally. This collection has been vouchered at the UC Berkeley, Jepsen Herbarium, UC2045788.

OBSERVATION NOTES:

Rio Boqueron, Colon, Panama, Latitude 9.432, Longitude -79.547, at meters elevation.

Los Charcos de Osa, Costa Rica, Latitude 8.6719, Longitude -83.5053, at 60 meters elevation.

GINGERSRUS CATALOG LISTING:
Costus plicatus is a beautiful plant, and I have never seen it in cultivation. I found it in Costa Rica in 2011 at the La Gamba Research Station and collected seeds. The plants are now finally large enough to ship and should flower in a year or two at the most.

Costus plicatus has very broad and beautiful plicate (pleated) leaves that shimmer n the sunlight. The plant grows to about 6-7 feet tall. The inflorescence is a red cone, much like C. nitidus, with a yellow tubular flower.

Hardiness is untested but expected to be only zone 10 hardy so it must be grown indoors in winter in colder climates.