Costus

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Costus
Costus pulverulentus.jpg
Costus pulverulentus at Rara Avis, Costa Rica
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Costaceae
Genus: Costus
L.
Synonyms [1]
  • GissantheSalisb.
  • AcinaxRaf.
  • JacuangaT.Lestib.
  • CadalvenaFenzl

Costus is a group of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Costaceae, described by Linnaeus as a genus in 1753. [2] [3] It was formerly known as Hellenia after the Finnish botanist Carl Niclas von Hellens. [4] It is widespread through tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. [1] [5] [6]

Contents

Costus is often characterized and distinguished from relatives such as Zingiber (true ginger) by its spiraling stems. The genus as a whole is thus often called spiral gingers, but this can also refer to C. barbatus specifically.

Costus spectabilis is the floral emblem of Nigeria; its flowers are represented (erroneously in red instead of yellow color) on its coat of arms. It is important not to confuse Costus speciosus, C. spectabilis etc. with the herb known by the common name "costus".

Some species are of importance to herbivores, such as caterpillars of the restricted demon (Notocrypta curvifascia) which feed on Costus speciosus (crêpe ginger). The crêpe ginger is also a source of diosgenin, a compound used for the commercial production of various steroids, such as progesterone. In Trinidad and Tobago, a mix of Costus scaber juice and crushed Renealmia alpinia berries is used to treat dogs bitten by snakes. [7]

Species

[1]

Formerly placed here

Numerous other species have been called Costus over the years, but are now regarded as members of other genera. Such genera include Alpinia , Amomum , Caulokaempferia , Cheilocostus , Chamaecostus , Dimerocostus , Hellenia , Paracostus , Renealmia , Tapeinochilos , etc. [1]

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<i>Zingiber</i> Genus of flowering plants

The genus Zingiber is native to Southeast Asia especially in Thailand, China, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. It contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their culinary value. The most well known are Z. biphrobsis and Z. mioga, two garden gingers.

<i>Oncidium</i> Genus of orchids

Oncidium, abbreviated as Onc. in the horticultural trade, is a genus that contains about 330 species of orchids from the subtribe Oncidiinae of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). As presently conceived, it is distributed across much of South America, Central America, Mexico and the West Indies, with one species (O. ensatum) extending into Florida. Common names for plants in this genus include dancing-lady orchid and golden shower orchid.

<i>Rauvolfia</i> Family of shrubs and trees

Rauvolfia is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, commonly known as devil peppers, in the family Apocynaceae. The genus is named to honor Leonhard Rauwolf. The genus can mainly be found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and various oceanic islands.

<i>Tetrorchidium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Tetrorchidium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described in 1841. It is native to tropical portions of Africa and the Western Hemisphere.

<i>Asplundia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Asplundia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Cyclanthaceae. They are distributed in the Neotropical realm from southern Mexico to southern Brazil.

<i>Aegiphila</i> Genus of flowering plants

Aegiphila is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described in 1763. It was formerly classified in the Verbenaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, the West Indies, and Florida.

<i>Beilschmiedia</i> Genus of trees and shrubs

Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The best-known species to gardeners in temperate areas are B. berteroana and B. miersii because of their frost tolerance. Seeds of B. bancroftii were used as a source of food by Australian Aborigines. Timbers of some species are very valuable.

<i>Monotagma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Monotagma is a genus of plant in family Marantaceae described as a genus in 1902. It is native to tropical America.

<i>Renealmia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Renealmia is a plant genus in the family Zingiberaceae. Its members are native to tropical Africa and tropical America. In Peru, fruits and tubers are sources of indigenous dyes. and indigenous medical treatments for leishmania and malaria In Colombia, it is used to treat snakebite. Bracts and leaves can serve as phytotelmata, retaining small quantities of water that offer habitat for other organisms.

<i>Elettariopsis</i> Extinct genus of flowering plants

Elettariopsis was a genus of plants in the ginger family, that has now been subsumed into the genus Amomum. Species are native to Southeast Asia, southern China and New Guinea.

<i>Boesenbergia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Boesenbergia is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains more than 90 species, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.

<i>Ctenus</i> Genus of spiders

Ctenus is a genus of wandering spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805. It is widely distributed, from South America through Africa to East Asia. Little is known about the toxic potential of the genus Ctenus; however, Ctenus medius has been shown to share some toxic properties with Phoneutria nigriventer, such as proteolytic, hyaluronidase and phospholipase activities, in addition to producing hyperalgesia and edema. The venom of C. medius also interferes with the complement system in concentrations in which the venom of P. nigriventer is inactive, indicating that some species in the genus may have a medically significant venom. The venom of C. medius interferes with the complement component 3 (C3) of the complement system; it affects the central factor of the cascades of the complement, and interferes with the lytic activity of this system, which causes stronger activation and consumption of the complement components. Unlike C. medius, the venom of P. nigriventer does not interfere with lytic activity.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 2 in Latin
  3. Tropicos, Costus L.
  4. Forsius, Arno. "Hellens, Carl Niclas von" (in Swedish). Biografiskt lexikon för Finland. Retrieved 30 June 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 320 闭鞘姜属 bi qiao jiang shu Costus Linnaeus
  6. Specht, C. D. & D. W. Stevenson. 2006. A new phylogeny-based generic classification of Costaceae (Zingiberales). Taxon 55(1): 153–163.
  7. Aweke, G., 2007. Costus afer Ker Gawl. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). Prota 11(1): Medicinal plants/Plantes médicinales 1. [CD-Rom]. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands