Gingersrus Database Taxon ID 7640Costus sp. ChambiCURRENT NAME: Costus possible sp. nov. unnamed PROPOSED NAME: Costus sp. Chambi NAME CHANGE NOTES: Possible sp. nov., as yet undescribed and unnamed, collected by Ben Chambi near Quincemil, Peru. FULL SCIENTIFIC NAME: Costus L. STATUS : sp. nov. unnamed CONTINENT: Neotropical FIELD OBSERVATIONS:(If field observations are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) FIELD OBSERVATIONS PHOTOS:(If photos are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) GOOGLE PHOTO ALBUM SYNONYMS: BOTANICAL NOTES: This phenotype is proposed for future publication, but has not yet been given a proposed species name. In 2018 I explored the area around the town of Quincemil, Peru which is in the Department Cusco, but at much lower elevation than the city by that name. I had researched prior collections in the area and one in particular caught my interest. On the internet site for the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) was a record for Chambi 1098, a collection at Quincemil that included a photo of a Costus which looked to me like a new species. In searching the area, I found this in three different localities outside the town and clearly it is something new. I took detailed measurements and photos and later consulted with Paul Maas. He agreed that it is something new, and we drafted a description based on the data I had collected. A problem developed when we found out that the Chambi specimen had been lost at BRIT and also could not be located at the herbarium in Lima, Peru. A new voucher specimen must be collected and deposited to herbaria in Peru before this can be published. This phenotype is proposed for future publication, but has not yet been given a proposed species name. This is clearly a uniquely different species from any other described species. The form of the inflorescence has very closely spaced green bract appendages with red margins and pungent apex forming a unique looking cone. The flowers have pink corollas, and yellow spreading labellums that lack the typical red stripes. This has not yet been included in a molecular phylogeny, so it is unknown which evolutionary lineage it occurs in.
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