Gingersrus Database Taxon ID 7642Costus pictus (karst form)CURRENT NAME: Costus pictus - karst form PROPOSED NAME: Costus pictus (karst form) NAME CHANGE NOTES: form found in Oaxaca, Mexico growing on Karst formations FULL SCIENTIFIC NAME: STATUS : distinct form CONTINENT: Neotropical FIELD OBSERVATIONS:(If field observations are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) PHOTOS:(If photos are available, you can click on the link to open in a new window.) SYNONYMS: BOTANICAL NOTES: In 2018 I visited an area in Oaxaca, Mexico near the town of La Esmeraldas that is known for its karst geological formations. This area is just to the east side of the mountain range before the broad plain that makes up the eastern part or Oaxaca and adjoining Veracruz. Here I found a form of Costus pictus or Costus dirzoi that grows on rocky karst formations. It grows to about 1 meter tall, flowers with a typical looking Costus pictus - green non-appendaged bracts and yellow open-labellum flowers, either borne on a separate leafless shoot or atop a leafy shoot. The stems do not have the pattern such as the form from Veracruz to eastern Honduras, and certainly is different enough to be considered a distinct form. The leaves are mostly broad and the lower sides are velutinous like Costus dirzoi. It flowers both terminally on a leafy stem and at the base on a leafless or nearly leafless shoot, also like Costus dirzoi. The molecular phylogeny showed it to be closely related to the other Atlantic side plants. I posted a short video on Facebook showing the geological formations and the cave system known as Cenote. https://www.facebook.com/100004192898450/videos/1084557608360659/.
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