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- ›Spiral Gingers and Allies

spiral gingers
Costus
Costus is a group of perennial herbaceous plants in the family (Costaceae) described by Linnaeus as a genus in 1753. It was formerly known as Hellenia after the Finish botanist Carl Niclas von Hellens. It is widespread through tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first

Red Button Ginger
speciesCostus woodsonii

red cigar
speciesCostus pulverulentus

red tower ginger
speciesCostus comosus

Costus spiralis
speciesCostus spiralis

Indian head ginger
speciesCostus scaber

Spiral flag
speciesCostus pictus

Costus laevis
speciesCostus laevis

Costus guanaiensis
speciesCostus guanaiensis

Costus arabicus
speciesCostus arabicus

Costus montanus
speciesCostus montanus

Costus dubius
speciesCostus dubius

African Princess
speciesCostus phyllocephalus

African Spiral Flag
speciesCostus lucanusianus

Costus spectabilis
speciesCostus spectabilis

Costus malortieanus
speciesCostus malortieanus

Costus villosissimus
speciesCostus villosissimus

Costus stenophyllus
speciesCostus stenophyllus

Indian Head Ginger
speciesCostus spicatus

Costus afer
speciesCostus afer

red rose ginger
speciesCostus osae

Costus productus
speciesCostus productus

Costus curvibracteatus
speciesCostus curvibracteatus

Costus atlanticus
speciesCostus atlanticus

Costus barbatus
speciesCostus barbatus

Costus lima
speciesCostus lima

Costus lasius
speciesCostus lasius

Costus claviger
speciesCostus claviger

Costus amazonicus
speciesCostus amazonicus

Costus erythrothyrsus
speciesCostus erythrothyrsus

Costus longibracteolatus
speciesCostus longibracteolatus

Costus wilsonii
speciesCostus wilsonii

Costus acreanus
speciesCostus acreanus

Costus erythrophyllus
speciesCostus erythrophyllus

Costus flammulus
speciesCostus flammulus

Costus asplundii
speciesCostus asplundii

Costus ricus
speciesCostus ricus

Costus varzearum
speciesCostus varzearum

Costus giganteus
speciesCostus giganteus

Costus glaucus
speciesCostus glaucus

Costus aureus
speciesCostus aureus

Costus zamoranus
speciesCostus zamoranus

Costus macranthus
speciesCostus macranthus

Costus tonkinensis
speciesCostus tonkinensis

Costus bracteatus
speciesCostus bracteatus

Costus vargasii
speciesCostus vargasii

Costus alticola
speciesCostus alticola

Costus antioquiensis
speciesCostus antioquiensis

Costus gibbosus
speciesCostus gibbosus

Costus dirzoi
speciesCostus dirzoi

Costus convexus
speciesCostus convexus

Costus erythrocoryne
speciesCostus erythrocoryne

Costus plowmanii
speciesCostus plowmanii

Costus rubineus
speciesCostus rubineus

Costus chartaceus
speciesCostus chartaceus

Costus allenii
speciesCostus allenii

Costus leucanthus
speciesCostus leucanthus

Costus plicatus
speciesCostus plicatus

Costus pseudospiralis
speciesCostus pseudospiralis

Costus whiskeycola
speciesCostus whiskeycola

Costus sinningiiflorus
speciesCostus sinningiiflorus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries

History of Aromatics and Some Medicinal Plants Born in the Indies
Garcia de Orta; Carolus Clusius (trans.) · 1567 · p.166

On the Simple Medicines from the West Indies
Nicolas Monardes · 1574 · p.150

Ortus sanitatis
1491 · p.137

Ortus sanitatis
1491 · p.138

The Great Herbary with all the figures of the herbs
1532 · p.106

On Medical Materials in Six Books
Dioscorides · 1550 · p.59

De medicinali materia libri sex
Dioscorides · 1552 · p.65

Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.144

Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.229

Ten Books of Exotic Things
Carolus Clusius · 1605 · p.225

Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 24)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.25

Herbarium Portatile, Oder Behendes Kräuter- und Gewächs-Buch: Darinn nicht allein 1363. so wol Einheimische als Außländndische Kräuter mit Lateinisch und Deutscher Benennung abgebildet, sondern auch die meisten, so in der Medicin gebräuchlich, kürtzlich erkläret werden
Panckow, Thomas · 1656 · p.266
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Costus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 132202.