Costus barbatus (Red velvet ginger)

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Costus barbatus Suess.

Red velvet ginger, spiral ginger

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Zingiberidae	Gingers and related plants
Order	Zingiberales	Ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galangal, myoga, bananas, arrowroot, and others
Family	Costaceae	Plants found throughout the tropics, with 5 fused staminodes (vs. 2) and no aromatic oils
Genus	Costus	Ginger-like plants with spiraling stems
Species	barbatus	From the Latin barba, “beard,” barbed, bearded, furnished with long, weak hairs

About plant names...

These central American plants are not native to North America. They are members of the ginger family. There are many cultivated varieties.

Plants: Up to 9' (2.7 m) tall. Stems are spiral-shaped.

Leaves: Oval, with pointed tips, dark green and glossy above, fuzzy beneath. about 4-20" (10-50 cm) long.

Flowers: Flowers consist of a brilliant red egg-shaped set of bracts (modified leaves), with bright yellow tubular flowers poking out. The red flowerheads are 7-13" (17-33 cm) tall. They flower from April to November.

Edibility: Yellow flowerheads are edible and lemony-tasting. The red portion is not though—it is composed of specialized leaves.

Online References:

FossilFlowers.org

UniProt

The University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Plant Growth Facilities

My Nice Flowers

Horticopia

4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 21 cm)

8/31/2013 · Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia
≈ 7 × 10" (18 × 24 cm)

4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 21 cm)

Costus barbatus description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland
≈ 4½ × 5" (12 × 13 cm)

4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida
≈ 15 × 10" (37 × 25 cm)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland
≈ 4 × 4½" (10 × 11 cm)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 27 cm)

Range: Zones 9-10:

About this map...