Costaceae
Costus Family
The Costaceae family (Costus Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Zingiberales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 7 species across 2 genera. Its members are predominantly herbs. Well-represented genera include Costus and Hellenia. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Blood Red Spiral Costus, Spiral Ginger and Insulin Plant.
Browse all 7 species ↓
Aromatic rhizomatous herbs whose leaves spiral distinctively around a single unbranched stem, unlike true gingers which keep their leaves in two flat ranks; a single fertile stamen sits beside a large, showy, petal-like lip on a dense conical flower spike.
The spiral leaf arrangement around the stem is the single easiest way to tell this family apart from its close ginger-family relatives at a glance, even with no flower present.
Which Costaceae species is this?
Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Costaceae species.
Typical leaf characters
Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.
Typical flower & fruit
- Flower symmetryVariable
- InflorescenceSpike
- FruitBerry
Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.
Notable members
All 7 species in COSTACEAE
Identify any Costaceae plant in seconds
Point your camera and SASYA names the species on-device — offline and private.
Download SASYA — Free