Herbarium JCB

Costus speciosus (J.Koenig) Sm.

Family : COSTACEAE
(Costus Family)
Family (Hindi name) : KUSHTHA FAMILY (कुष्ठ फैमिली)
Family (as per The APG System III) : COSTACEAE
Synonym(s) : Costus speciosus var. dilnavaziae M.R.Almeida & S.M.Almeida
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Cheilocostus speciosus (J.Koenig) C.D.Specht
Common name : Costus, Cane-reed, Crepe-ginger, Spiral Ginger
Vernacular name : Piway, Kosht (Marathi); Gaigendalia, Gaigobra, Kena, Keuana, Cheki kanda, Keo, Keu kand, Keogab kachya, Koukuka, Kokola (Oria); Kust (Hindi); Pushkaara (Sanskrit); Bomma kachika, Chengalva koshtu, Bogachika (Telugu); Chengala koshtha, Naayi kabbu (Kannada); Kottam (Tamil); Aanakoova, Aanappoo, Channa, Channakoova, Malavayambu, Narumchanna, Nuchanna (Malayalam)
Habit : Herb
Habitat : Moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests, also in the plains
Comments / notes : Often on hills above 900m, gregarious by stream banks, shola floor
Key identification features : Leaves spirally arranged, terminal inflorescence, flowers white
Flower, Fruit : July-February
Collector(s) Name : C.J. Saldanha; Raja K. Swamy & Noel Sebastian
Collection Date : 7-8-1969; 21-11-2018
Collection Nos : CJS14442; HJCB-1716
Collection Locality : Kempuhole, Shiradi Ghat, Hassn district; Peruananthanam, Idukki district, Kerala
Distribution :
- Andhra Pradesh : Kurnool district, Vishakapatnam district, West Godavari district, Srikakulam district
- Karnataka : Hassan district
- Kerala : All districts of Kerala
- Maharashtra : Ahmednagar district, Amravati district, Bhandara district, Mumbai Suburban district, Chandrapur district, Kolhapur district, Nashik district, Pune district, Raigad district, Ratnagiri district, Sindhudurg district, Thane district
- Odisha : Common throughout Odisha
- Tamil Nadu : Namakkal district, Salem district
World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Himalayas, China, Malaysia, New guinea, Taiwan, Nepal
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state – Monocotyledons; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Herbarium specimen from Peruananthanam, Idukki district, Kerala
Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Costus speciosus. Downloaded on 3 June 2024.