Herbarium JCB

Costus speciosus (J.Koenig) Smith

Family : COSTACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Costaceae
Species : Costus speciosus
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Cheilocostus speciosus (J.Koen.) C.Specht
Common name : Spiral 'Ginger'
Vernacular name : Pushkaara (San.); Kust (Hin.); Naayi kabbu, Chengala koshtha (Kan.)
Collection Nos : HFP 2025, CJS 14442
Key identification features : An erect shrub with tuberous rootstock. Leaves are subsessile, spirally arranged, oblong. Flowers are in dense spikes. Bracts and bracteoles are oblong, red. Corolla tube long and spread-out distally, orbicular with a yellow center.
Habit : Herb
Native : India, Sri Lanka
Comments : Fairly common in W.Ghats and coastal belt. Rhizome has medicinal properties.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Distribution Locality : Chikamagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Hassan, Kodagu, Mysore, Shimoga, Udupi, Uttara Kannada
Floras referred : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara