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Photo# 13186 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13187 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - flower is colorful but is actually quite small, about 35 mm across.

Photo# 13188 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - this shows the rhizome and thickened root system for survival during the dry season.

Photo# 13189 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus bracteole, tubular, bicarinate type found in Chamaecostus distinguished from the unicarinate type usually found in Costus.

Photo# 13190 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus calyx

Photo# 13191 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus corolla lobes

Photo# 13192 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus flower, about 5 cm in length, tubular but with an unusual (for Costaceae) flat spreading labellum.

Photo# 13193 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus inflorescence. Note the elongated shape which distinguishes it from subsp pulchriflorus which has a subcapitate inflorescence.

Photo# 13194 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus is distinguished from subsp pulchriflorus by the length of the calyx and bract being about equal. Here we have (from top to bottom) the calyx with a flower bud, the very small bracteole, and the bract.

Photo# 13195 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus root system in young plant

Photo# 13196 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus stamen and style

Photo# 13197 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus. Note the ants attracted to the yellow nectar callous on the bracts.

Photo# 13198 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus. Note the yellow nectar callous on the bract.

Photo# 13111 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13112 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13113 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13114 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13115 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13116 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13117 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13118 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus

Photo# 13119 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - flower is colorful but is actually quite small, about 35 mm across.

Photo# 13120 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - I often found it growing right next to the roots of large trees, presumably holding more moisture during the dry season.

Photo# 13121 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - I often found it growing right next to the roots of large trees, presumably holding more moisture during the dry season.

Photo# 13122 Specimen# R3249 Chamaecostus lanceolatus subsp lanceolatus - note the distinctive silvery midrib (as in Costus laevis in Central Americ). Makes these easy to recognize even as young plants.

This species was very common in the Alta Floresta area, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Photos to the left are from that area and the Cristalino Private Reserve. They are all from subspecies lanceolatus - not from subspecies pulchriflorus as indicated on the Kew website at http://www.kew.org/science/tropamerica/imagedatabase/large1/cat_single1-1091.htm (see photo series at 1089-1093.htm)

I have seen photos of a plant I believe to be subsp. pulchriflorus on the internet at http://www.flickr.com/photos/grandma-shirley/5874278239/in/photostream/. They were taken at Carajas in Para state in Brazil. The plants in these photos do not have the elongated inflorescence, but I cannot tell for sure how the calyx length compares to the bract length.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION:Colombia, Surinam and Brazil
HEIGHT:0 to 0 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						0 to 0 cm	0 to 0 cm
Sheath			glabrous to minutely densely puberulous			0 to 0 cm	3 to 8 mm
Ligule			glabrous			1 to 4 mm	0 to 0 mm
Petiole			glabrous			2 to 4 mm	0 to 0 mm
Leaf					narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate	6 to 20 cm	2 to 7 cm
...upper			glabrous to minutely densely puberulous
...under			glabrous to minutely densely puberulous
...base					cuneate to rounded
...apex					acuminate	5 to 20 mm
Inflorescence	terminal on a leafy stem				angular obovode to fusiform	3 to 15 cm	2 to 4 cm
Bract	not imbricate, 5-12 mm wide, callus 1-5 mm long	green	glabrous to minutely densely puberulous	herbaceous to chartaceous	triangular	1.0 to 3.5 cm	0.5 to 0.8 cm
Appendage	appendage not found on bract					0.0 to 0.0 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Bracteole	tubular but often deeply split, 2 lobed	green	glabrous to minutely densely puberulous	herbaceous to chartaceous	tubular but often deeply split, 2 lobed	1.0 to 1.7 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Flower		purplish				0 to 0 cm	0 to 0 cm
Calyx		green	glabrous to minutely densely puberulous	herbaceous to chartaceous		2.0 to 3.2 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Corolla	tube 15-25 mm long	fiery red to orange red	glabrous or minutely puberulous			5.0 to 6.0 cm	0.0 to 0.0 cm
Labellum	limb suborbicular, margins crenulate	fiery red to deep crimson, drying deep purple	shortly fimbriate or glabrous			2.5 to 3.0 cm	3.0 to 3.5 cm
Stamen	Basal part of stamen and labellum joined in a slender tube 45-50 mm long and 4-5 mm wide	orange			apex irreg. Dentate, stigma cup shaped	1.2 to 1.5 cm	0.3 to 0.6 cm