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Costus malortieanus

Costus malortieanus
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0

Costus malortieanus is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family, sometimes confused with the closely related Costus elegans (stepladder or spiral ginger), which the sources describe. It is grown mainly as an ornamental for its spiral arrangement and creamy to yellow flowers, and does best in warm, humid, partly shaded conditions with evenly 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, loose, well-draining soil or peat-based potting mix.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate

About

Costus elegans, known as stepladder plant, spiral ginger, or spiral flag, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Costaceae. It is native to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Costus elegans is often cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Where it grows

It is native to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Costus elegans has been introduced in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and on the island of Maui, Hawaii, U.S.A.

Other Costus plants

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

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Costus elegans 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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