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Costaceae
Sign in to saveCostaceae, known as the Costus family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-paradise (Strelitziaceae), and edible ginger (Zingiberaceae). The seven genera in Costaceae together contain about 143 known species (1 in Monocostus, 2 in Dimerocostus, 16 in Tapeinochilos, 2 in Paracostus, 8 in Chamaecostus, c. 5 in Hellenia, and c. 80 in Costus). They are native to tropical climates of Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Several
Species
FAMILY
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassLiliopsida
- OrderZingiberales
- FamilyCostaceae
General: Notes on delimitation: Costaceae were formerly treated Appearance: Key differences from similar families: Costaceae have
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 93
- With media
- 17
- Family
- Costaceae
- Collections
- NY, ASU, BRIT, US, INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE PESQUISAS DA AMAZÔNIA (INPA), UESC
- Recorded in
- Brazil, Ecuador, Philippines, Guyana, Brasil, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Description
- Taxonomy
- Gallery
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Costaceae, known as the Costus family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-paradise (Strelitziaceae), and edible ginger (Zingiberaceae). The seven genera in Costaceae together contain about 143 known species (1 in Monocostus, 2 in Dimerocostus, 16 in Tapeinochilos, 2 in Paracostus, 8 in Chamaecostus, c. 5 in Hellenia, and c. 80 in Costus). They are native to tropical climates of Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Several species are frequently found in cultivation.
== Description == The simple leaves are entire and spirally arranged, with those toward the base of the stem usually bladeless. Leaf bases have a closed sheath with a ligule, or projection at the top of the sheath.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Costaceae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.