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Spiral Gingers

Costus

In Singapore: Variegated Spiral Ginger (Cultivated in Singapore)

Spiral Gingers
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0

Costus is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the ginger family Costaceae, often called spiral gingers for their spiraling stems. Many species are grown as ornamentals in warm, humid conditions with rich, moist soil.

Family
Costaceae (Cost family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season and water less in winter.
Soil
Rich, well-draining, moist potting mix or garden loam with organic matter.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate
Edible
Yes, some parts

About

Costus is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Costaceae, described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread through tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Costus is often characterized and distinguished from relatives such as Zingiber (true ginger) by its spiraling stems. The genus as a whole is thus often called spiral gingers, but this can also refer to C. barbatus specifically. It is important not to confuse Costus scaber, C. spectabilis etc. with the herb known by the common name "costus".

Other Costus plants

Spiral Ginger · Costus barbatus · Costus chartaceus · Red Tower Ginger · Costus curvibracteatus · Costus erythrophyllus · African Spiral Flag · Costus malortieanus · Red Rose Ginger · Costus productus · Spiral ginger · Indian Head Ginger

[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Costus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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