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Red Rose Ginger

Costus osae

In Singapore: Red Rose Ginger (Cultivated in Singapore)

Red Rose Ginger
Photo: Walter, CC BY 2.0

Red Rose Ginger (Costus osae) is a rare rhizomatous tropical plant from the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, grown for its thick clusters of bright red bracts. It needs warmth, humidity and bright light to thrive.

Family
Costaceae (Cost family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist during the growing season and let the top layer dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Rich, well-draining potting mix with added organic matter.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Costa Rica, Colombia
Climate
wet tropical

About

Costus osae is a species of flowering plant in the family Costaceae. One of many rare tropical plants in the Costus family, Costus osae is a species native to Costa Rica described in 1997 by Paul Maas and Hiltje Maas-van de Kamer. It has also been reported from Colombia.

This plant has thick stems with large green fuzzy leaves. It grows to an average height of about four feet and produces thick clusters of bright red bracts. It is rare as a garden plant or houseplant in the United States and it is speculated to be hardy in zones 9–10.

Other Costus plants

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

[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 osae 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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