1358.000 Costus L.

Description of the genus

Rhizomatous perennial herbs. Leaves spirally arranged on a true aerial stem (afer), or 4 in a cross-shaped rosette appressed to the ground (macranthus and spectabilis). Inflorescence usually condensed into subspherical cone-like spikes either terminal or arising from the rhizome. Petals 3. Labellum petaloid. Fruit a berry, crowned by the persistent calyx.

Worldwide: c. 110 species in the tropics; c. 25 in tropical Africa.

Mozambique: 4 taxa.

Links to taxa: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

Species	FZ divisions	Content
afer Ker Gawl.	MS	Description, Image
macranthus K. Schum.	N,Z,MS	Description, Image
spectabilis (Fenzl) K. Schum.	N,MS	Description, Image
subbiflorus K. Schum.	Z,MS

Other sources of information about Costus:

Our websites:

Flora of Burundi: Costus
Flora of the DRC: Costus
Flora of Malawi: Costus
Flora of Rwanda: Costus
Flora of Zambia: Costus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Costus
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Costus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Costus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Costus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Costus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Costus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Costus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Costus
JSTOR Plant Science: Costus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Costus
Plants of the World Online: Costus
Tropicos: Costus
Wikipedia: Costus