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Spiral Ginger

Costus afer

Spiral Ginger
Photo: Christian Hummert (Ixitixel), CC BY-SA 3.0

Costus afer, the spiral or English ginger lily, is a rhizomatous plant from tropical Africa grown for its spiral leaves and ginger-like flowers. It is easiest in warm, bright conditions with moderate, well-drained watering.

Family
Costaceae (Cost family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Water when the top few centimetres of soil dry out, and reduce watering in cooler or dormant periods.
Soil
Free-draining, fertile potting mix or garden loam enriched with compost.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Native range
Trop. Africa
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Costus afer, English ginger lily or common ginger lily, is a species of plant native to Tropical Africa.

Costus afer is widely cultivated. It has many traditional uses, including but not limited to treating a range of medical ailments. Costus afer is high in diosgenin.

Other Costus plants

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 · Spiked spiralflag

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Costus afer 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.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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