Chamaecostus cuspidatus = Costus cuspidatus.
Previously known as Costus cuspidatus and Costus igneus the Fiery or Spiral Flag ginger is now
recognised as Chaemecostus cuspidatus by World Flora Online.
They are small herbaceous perennial plants up to 30 or 50 cm high that can form clumps.
Growing from rhizomes the initially erect green to purple stems may bend over.
The short stems only have around 10 simple leaves that are alternately arranged in a spiral.
The petiole is around 2 mm long and the blade 10 to 20 cm long and around 6 cm wide.
There is a reddish-purple leaf sheath up to 1 cm long with a 2 mm high ligule at the top.
The narrowly obovate to elliptic blades taper to a pointed tip.
The green leaves, with a pale purple underside may have tiny hairs on both surfaces.
Terminal inflorescences are a short ovoid spike with under 10 flowers.
Each flower lies inside an ovate green membranous bract.
Flowers are on a stalk or pedicel up to 2.5 cm long with a small bracteole at the base.
The pale green calyx is 3 to 4 cm long and the longer corolla is orange.
There is 1 fertile stamen with a yellow to orange petal-like filament up to 8 mm wide.
It has dense white hairs on the inner surface and a toothed end.
The anther attached to it is around 5 mm long.
The 5 infertile stamens (staminodes) are fused into an orange petal-like lip or labellum that is up to 6 cm long.
It is funnel-shaped and its base is fused to the base of the stamen filament to form a narrow 3 to 4 cm long tube.
The wide flaring upper section, around 6 cm across looks like crepe paper and has an irregular toothed edge.
The minutely hairy, 1 cm long ovary with 3 locules has a single style with a funnel-shaped stigma.
The fruit are ellipsoidal loculicidal capsules around 1.5 cm long with numerous brown seeds.
J.F.
