Costus guanaiensis seeds grow into a rhizomatous geophyte native to the wet tropical biome from southern Mexico south through Central America to Tropical South America. Described by Rusby (Henry Hurd Rusby, 18551940, the American botanist who made major plant collections in Bolivia and the American tropics). Named after Guanai, a locality in Bolivia, from where material was collected. Three varieties: var. guanaiensis, var. macrostrobilus (K.Schum.) Maas, and var. tarmicus (Loes.) Maas (the last studied for a documented shift from bee to hummingbird pollination in Peru). Uses as animal food, medicine and human food recorded across its range. The spiral arrangement of leaves on the stem winding around the stem in a single plane is the key character distinguishing the family Costaceae from the closely related Zingiberaceae (ginger family). Family Costaceae, Order Zingiberales.
Partial shade to full sun; moist humus-rich soils; warm wet tropical conditions; protect from cold. Suitable for tropical and warm subtropical gardens.
Costus guanaiensis is a spiral ginger of the American wet tropics its spirally arranged leaves marking it as a Costaceae rather than a true ginger, ranging from Mexico to tropical South America where it serves as food, medicine and fodder, and providing botanical science with a striking case study in pollinator shifts between its varieties.
IMPORTANT: Pictures show the adult plant, which is not for sale. The offer is only for seeds.
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