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Botanical Description page for GingersRus plant database number " 2372 ".

You can select the botanical description of a different plant from this list: Click arrow to see list, then click GO Chamaecostus congestiflorus Chamaecostus curcumoides Chamaecostus cuspidatus Chamaecostus fragilis Chamaecostus fusiformis Chamaecostus lanceolatus Chamaecostus subsessilis Cheilocostus globosus Cheilocostus lacerus Cheilocostus speciosus Cheilocostus sopuensis Costus "El Whiskey" Costus sp. from Cabo Matapalo Costus acreanus Costus afer Costus albus Costus allenii Costus amazonicus Costus arabicus Costus asplundii Costus asteranthus Costus barbatus Costus beckii Costus bracteatus Costus chartaceus Costus claviger Costus claviger aff Costus comosus var. bakeri Costus comosus Costus cordatus Costus cupreifolius Costus curvibracteatus Costus deistelii Costus dewevrei Costus dirzoi Costus dubius Costus erythrocoryne Costus erythrophyllus Costus erythrothyrsus Costus fissiligulatus Costus foliaceus Costus gabonensis Costus geothyrsus Costus glaucus Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis var. macrostrobilacius Costus guanaiensis var. tarmicus Costus juruanus Costus laevis Costus lasius Costus lateriflorus Costus letestui Costus leucanthus Costus ligularis Costus lima Costus longebracteolatus Costus lucanusianus var. major Costus lucanusianus Costus Maas species A Costus Maas species B Costus maboumiensis Costus macranthus Costus maculatus Costus malortieanus Costus montanus Costus nitidus Costus nudicaulis Costus oblongus Costus osae Costus phaeotrichus Costus pictus Costus plicatus Costus plowmanii Costus potierae Costus productus Costus pulverulentus Costus quasi-appendiculatus Costus ricus Costus sarmentosus Costus scabe Costus spectabilis Costus spicatus Costus spiralis Costus sprucei Costus stenophyllus Costus subbiflorus Costus tappenbeckianus Costus tonkinensis Costus vargasii Costus varzearum Costus villosissimus Costus vinosus Costus violaceus Costus viridis Costus wilsonii Costus woodsonii Costus zamoranus Costus zingiberoides Paracostus englerianus Paracostus paradoxus

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Costus spiralis

Costus spiralis (Jacq.)

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Photo# 11886 Specimen# R1756 Costus spiralis, cultivated plant

Photo# 11898 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Tom Wood Nursery William Roscoe print

Photo# 11888 Specimen# R0 Costus aff. spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11889 Specimen# R0 Costus aff. spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11890 Specimen# R0 Costus aff. spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11891 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11892 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11893 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11894 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11895 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 11896 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Wilson Botanical Garden, Costa Rica

Photo# 12827 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis pink form at Lyon Arboretum, Oahu, Hawaii

Photo# 12828 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis pink form at Lyon Arboretum, Oahu, Hawaii

Photo# 12829 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis pink form at Lyon Arboretum, Oahu, Hawaii ligules

Photo# 12830 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis var. spiralis pink form at Waimea Audubon Center, Oahu, Hawaii #75P320

Photo# 12831 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis var. spiralis pink form at Waimea Audubon Center, Oahu, Hawaii #75P320

Photo# 12832 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis var. spiralis pink form at Waimea Audubon Center, Oahu, Hawaii #75P320 Karen photographing

Photo# 17237 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17238 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17239 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17240 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17241 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17242 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17243 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17244 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17245 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17246 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis basal flowering form at Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Photo# 17247 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Santa Maria de Boyaca, Colombia

Photo# 17248 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Santa Maria de Boyaca, Colombia

Photo# 17249 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Santa Maria de Boyaca, Colombia

Photo# 17250 Specimen# R0 Costus spiralis at Santa Maria de Boyaca, Colombia

Photo# 17365 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17366 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17367 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17368 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17369 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17370 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17371 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17372 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17373 Specimen# R3252 Costus spiralis in rocky area at Cristalilno, Mato Grosso, Brazil known as the "Secret Garden".

Photo# 17408 Specimen# R3302 Costus spiralis in Espirito Santo, Brazil

Photo# 17409 Specimen# R3302 Costus spiralis in Espirito Santo, Brazil

Photo# 17410 Specimen# R3302 Costus spiralis in Espirito Santo, Brazil

Photo# 17411 Specimen# R3302 Costus spiralis in Espirito Santo, Brazil

BOTANICAL NAME: Costus spiralis
SUBGENUS:Costus
GROUP:2-bracts not appendaged
SECTION:II-Ornithophilus
PRIMARY SOURCE USED FOR DESCRIPTION:Maas, Flora Neotropica No. 8, 1972
SECONDARY SOURCES:
LAST UPDATED:
NOTES AND DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:Maas describes two varieties - var. spiralis (tropical South America) with glabrous leaves and var. villosus (Guianas & adjacent Brazil) with leaves sparsely to densely villose. He also mentions a variety of C. spiralis that flowers on a separate leafless shoot instead of the more common terminal bloom on a leafy stem. Maas says C. spiralis is closest to C. spicatus and C. erythrocoryne, but with red instead of yellow flowers and a somewhat shorter calyx. Flora Neotropica Monograph #8 includes a table that compares the three species (Click Here). In Monograph #18, Maas mentions that this species is quite heterogeneous, and may need to be split.

The identification of the plant in these photos has not been verified, but believed to be Costus spiralis.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION:Tropical South America in nmoist rain forests, savanna forests or no granitic outcroppings from sea level to 350 m.
HEIGHT:1 to 3 meters

Botanical Description for this Species
For illustrations or explanation of terminology, click on the linked plant part or column header.
Descriptions used for plant identification key are shown in BOLD.

Plant Part	General	Color	Hairs	Texture	Shape	Length	Width
Rhizome			densely brownish strigose			0 to 0 cm	0 to 0 cm
Sheath	Flowering stems 25-70 cm tall, sheaths truncate, 1.5-6 cm long, .5 to 2 cm wide.glabrous.		glabrescent			0 to 0 cm	5 to 20 mm
Ligule	short, 1-15 mm		glabrous or villose toward margins		truncate	2 to 10 mm	0 to 0 mm
Petiole			glabrous to villose			2 to 17 mm	0 to 0 mm
Leaf					narrowly elliptic	8 to 43 cm	5 to 14 cm
...upper			glabrous to densely villose
...under			glabrous to densely villose
...base					cunate to rounded
...apex					shortly acuminate	0 to 0 mm
Inflorescence	terminal on a leafy stem.				ovoid, obtuse	4 to 11 cm	2 to 5 cm
Bract	Margins ofcovered part often dilacerating into fibers, but rarely so on the exposed parts, callus 5-10 mm long, green to yellowish green.	exposed part red	glabrous, rarely appressed puberulous	thick, coriaceous	broadly ovate, obtuse or acute at the apex	2.0 to 4.0 cm	2.5 to 4.5 cm
Appendage	none					0.0 to 0.0 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Bracteole		purplish red	glaborous to sparsely puberulous		boat shape	1.5 to 2.9 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Flower		pinkish red				0 to 0 cm	0 to 0 cm
Calyx	6-15 mm long	purplish red	glaborous to sparsely puberulous		lobes shallowly triangular to deltate	0.7 to 1.2 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Corolla	tube 10 mm	pinkish red to salmon red	glabrous		lobes narrowly obovate-elliptic	4.5 to 6.0 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Labellum	Inner side nearapex yellowish, lateral lobes rolled inwards and forming a slender tube 7-10 mm in diam, apex slightly irregularly crenulate.	pinkish red to salmon red			oblong-obovate when spread	2.5 to 3.0 cm	2.0 to 2.5 cm
Stamen	apex emarginate or acute, anther 7-9 mm long	red			narrowly elliptic	2.5 to 3.0 cm	0.5 to 1.0 cm

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