| Monocotyledon | Literature for Cheilocostus speciosus
Specht & Stevenson, 2006; Wagner et al., 1990, 1999. |
| Costaceae -- The Costus Family | Bibliography |
| Cheilocostus speciosus | |
Common name(s): spiral flag, Malay ginger |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native from the Himalayas to New Guinea and Australia, widely cultivated throughout the tropics and naturalized in some areas.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Lana`i, Maui. |
|
| Habit |
Perennial herbs 0.5-4 m tall; stems branched in upper half. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaves oblong, oblanceolate, or lanceolate, (5-)12-25(-45) cm long, (1.5-)3-6(-12) cm wide, glabrous or upper surface appressed pubescent, lower surface silky pubescent, petioles (2-)5-8 mm long, pubescent, ligules truncate, 1-2 mm long, minutely pubescent or glabrous, sheaths green tinged red, minutely pubescent or glabrous. |
|
| Flowers |
Flowers numerous in ellipsoid, ovoid, or globose heads 2.5-7 cm long, elongating up to ca. 13 cm long with age, 3-5 cm wide, primary bracts tinged red or bright red to purplish red, ovate, coriaceous, densely sericeous or glabrous, with a narrow, fleshy, subapical mucro 2.2-4.5 cm long, 0.7-2.5 cm wide, bracteoles narrow, red tinged along margins, ca. 1-2.2 cm long, glabrous or pubescent; calyx 3-lobed, 2-3 cm long, glabrous or pubescent; corolla white or purple tinged, glabrous, the tube equaling or shorter than calyx, the lobes 3-6.5 cm long; labellum white with a yellow median band and yellow pubescence at throat, broadly obovate, 8-10 cm wide when spread out, the margins crenate; stamen ca. 2.5 cm long, 1.2-1.5 cm wide; ovary ca. 8 mm long, pubescent. |
|
| Fruit |
Fruit red, ellipsoid, 1-2.5 cm in diameter, minutely sericeous, crowned by the persistent calyx. |
|
| Seeds |
Seeds black, angular, ca. 3 mm long, with a white aril. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 13, 17 27 (irregular), 36, 72. |
|
| Contributor |
David Lorence |