Costus
Encyclopedia
- See Catherine of AlexandriaCatherine of AlexandriaSaint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
for the man named Costus often held to be her father.
Costus is a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of perennial tropical herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
s from the costus family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
(Costaceae
Costaceae
Costaceae or the Costus Family is a family of pantropical monocots. They belong to the order Zingiberales, which contains other horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana , bird-of-paradise , and edible ginger...
). They are often characterized and distinguished from relatives such as Zingiber
Zingiber
The genus Zingiber contains the true gingers, a set of plants with medicinal and culinary value in many parts of the world. The most well-known is Z. officinale, garden ginger.-Culinary:...
(true ginger) by their spiraling stems. The genus as a whole is thus often called spiral gingers, but this can also refer to C. barbatus
Costus barbatus
Costus barbatus, also known as Spiral Ginger, is a perennial plant with a red inflorescence. It is one of the most commonly cultivated Costus species....
specifically.
Costus spectabilis is the floral emblem
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
; its flowers are represented (erroneously in red instead of yellow color) on its coat of arms
Coat of arms of Nigeria
The coat of arms of Nigeria has a black shield with two white stripes that come together, like the letter Y. These represent the two main rivers flowing through Nigeria: the Benue River and the Niger River. The black shield represents Nigeria's good earth while the two horses on each side...
.
It is important not to confuse "Costus speciousus, C. spectabilis etc. with the herb known by the common name 'costus'.
Some species are of importance to herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s, such as caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s of the Restricted Demon (Notocrypta curvifascia) which feed on Crape Ginger (C. speciosus). The Crape Ginger is also a source of diosgenin
Diosgenin
Diosgenin, a steroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam, such as the Kokoro...
, a compound used for the commercial production of various steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s, such as progesterone
Progesterone
Progesterone also known as P4 is a C-21 steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryogenesis of humans and other species...
. In Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, a mix of Costus scaber juice and crushed Renealmia alpinia berries is used to treat dogs bitten by snakes
Snakebite
A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...
.
Selected species
- Costus acanthocephalus K.Schum.
- Costus acaulis S.Moore
- Costus acreanus (Loes.) MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus adolphi-friderici Loes.
- Costus afer Ker Gawl.
- Costus albus A.Chev.
- Costus allenii MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus arabicus Vell. (Syn.: C. verschaffeltianus)
- Costus barbatusCostus barbatusCostus barbatus, also known as Spiral Ginger, is a perennial plant with a red inflorescence. It is one of the most commonly cultivated Costus species....
– Spiral Ginger - Costus chartaceusCostus chartaceusThe Christmas Costus is a perennial plant with a red inflorescence....
– Christmas Costus - Costus comosus RoscoeRoscoe-Places:United States*Roscoe, California *Roscoe, Illinois*Roscoe, Minnesota*Roscoe, Missouri*Roscoe, Nebraska*Roscoe, New York*Roscoe, Pennsylvania*Roscoe, South Dakota*Roscoe, Texas...
- Costus curvibracteatus MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus cuspidatus (Nees & Mart.) MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus deistellii
- Costus dubius (Afzel.) K.Schum.
- Costus englerianus K.Schum.
- Costus erythrocoryne
- Costus erythrophyllus Loes.
- Costus fragilis MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus fusiformis MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
- Costus guanaiensis Rusby
- Costus giganteus, Giant Ginger
- Costus igneusCostus igneusCostus igneus, common name Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag, is a species of herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family.It is claimed to help build up insulin in the human body and is sometimes referred to as the Insulin Plant...
- Costus laevis Ruiz & Pav.
- Costus lima
- Costus ligularis
- Costus longebracteolatus
- Costus lucanusianus J.Braun & K.Schum.
- Costus malortieanus
- Costus mosaicus W.Bull
- Costus oblongus S.Q.Tong
- Costus osaeCostus osaeCostus osae is a rare member of the Costus family. One of many rare tropical plants in the Costus family, Costus osae is a species native to Costa Rica described in 1997 . It is usually considered a type of ginger. This plant has thick stems with large green fuzzy leaves. It grows to an...
MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
& H.Maas - Costus phaeotrichus
- Costus phyllocephalus
- Costus potierae F.Muell.
- Costus pulverulentus C.Presl
- Costus ricus MaasMaasMaas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....
& H.Maas - Costus rumphianus Valeton ex K.Heyne
- Costus scaber
- Costus speciosusCostus speciosusCostus speciosus or Cheilocostus speciosus or crape ginger is possibly the best known cultivated species of the genus Costus. This plant is native to southeast Asia, especially on the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia...
– Crape Ginger - Costus spectabilis
- Costus spicatusCostus spicatusCostus spicatus, also known as Spiked Spirlaflag Ginger or Indian Head Ginger, is a species of herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family .-Distribution:...
– Spiked Spiralflag Ginger; Indian Head Ginger - Costus spiralis (Jacq.) RoscoeRoscoe-Places:United States*Roscoe, California *Roscoe, Illinois*Roscoe, Minnesota*Roscoe, Missouri*Roscoe, Nebraska*Roscoe, New York*Roscoe, Pennsylvania*Roscoe, South Dakota*Roscoe, Texas...
- Costus stenophyllus Standl. + L.O.Williams
- Costus tapenbeckianus
- Costus tonkinensis Gagnep.
- Costus viridis S.Q.Tong
- Costus woodsonii
Formerly placed here
Plants for some time placed in this genus include Alpinia nutansAlpinia nutans
Alpinia nutans is a Southeast Asian plant of the ginger family , which is often used as a medicinal plant.-Characteristics:...
(as Costus zerumbet)