COSTUS SPECIOSUS

Crape Ginger


Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Costaceae
Genus: Costus
Species: C. speciosus
Binomial name
Costus speciosus
(J.Konig) Sm.
Costus
speciosus or crape ginger is possibly the best known cultivated species
of the genus Costus. This plant is native to southeast Asia, especially
on the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. Costus differs from the
common ginger by having only one row of spirally arranged leaves.
The species reproduces vegetatively by rhizome and birds disperse seeds when they feed on the fruits.
While
it is native to many Pacific Islands, it is an introduced invasive
species on others, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, and Hawaii. It is
cultivated in India for its medicinal uses and elsewhere as an
ornamental.
The
plant has many historical uses in Ayurveda, where the rhizome has been
used to treat fever, rash, asthma, bronchitis, and intestinal worms. It
is mentioned in the Kama Sutra as an ingredient in a cosmetic to be used
on the eyelashes to increase sexual attractiveness.
C.
speciosus has a large number of common names in many languages,
including isebsab (Palauan), keukand (Hindi), pakarmula (Gujarati),
pushkarmula (Marathi and Sanskrit),Jom Lakhuti (Assamese) and kostam
(Tamil).










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