Costus speciosus

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Costus speciosus (J. Konig) Sm.
  • Common Name : Crepe Ginger, Kosht, Pevta
  • Plant Family : Costaceae
  • This plant family earlier was Zingiberaceae.

  • Plant Form : Herb
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park

About Costus speciosus Plant :

  • Habit : A large, erect plant with tuberous rootstalk.
  • Leaves : Subsessile, spirally arranged, oblong, acute, sheathing at base.
  • Inflorescence : Spike
  • Flower :
    • White, numerous, in dense spike, bracts ovate, acute, bright-red, bracteoles solitary below the calyx lobes deltoid-ovate, cuspidate.
    • Corolla-tube as long as calyx, lobes 3, ovate-oblong.
    • Labellum suborbicular, white with a yellow centre, concave, plicate, margins crisped, disk hairy, stamen 1, filament hairy below, connective broad petaloid, produced into a linear appendage hairy.
    • Ovary inferior, 3 celled, stigma mouth semi lunar.
  • Fruit : Capsule 3-lobed.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : August-October