The plant known in Ancient Rome as costus is probably Saussurea lappa; see also Saussurea costus.

A man named Costus is often held to be the father of Catherine of Alexandria.

Costus
Costus pulverulentus at Rara Avis, Costa Rica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Costaceae
Genus:	Costus L.
Species
Many, see text
Synonyms
Banksea Koenig

Costus is a genus of perennial tropical herbaceous plants from the costus family (Costaceae). They are often characterized and distinguished from relatives such as Zingiber (true ginger) by their 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.

Some species are of importance to herbivores, such as caterpillars of the Restricted Demon (Notocrypta curvifascia) which feed on Crape Ginger (C. speciosus). The Crape Ginger is also a source of diosgenin, a compound used for the commercial production of various steroids, such as progesterone. On Trinidad and Tobago, a mix of Costus scaber juice and crushed Renealmia alpinia berries is used to treat dogs bitten by snakes.

[edit] Selected species

• Costus acreanus
• Costus barbatus – Spiral Ginger
• Costus chartaceus – Christmas Costus
• Costus cuspidatus (Nees & Mart.) Maas
• Costus deistellii
• Costus dubius
• Costus erythrocoryne
• Costus fragilis Maas
• Costus fusiformis Maas
• Costus giganteus, Giant Ginger
• Costus igneus
• Costus lima
• Costus ligularis
• Costus longebracteolatus
• Costus malortieanus
• Costus osae
• Costus phaeotrichus
• Costus potierae F.Muell.
• Costus pulverulentus
• Costus scaber
• Costus speciosus – Crape Ginger
• Costus spectabilis
• Costus spicatus – Spiked Spirlaflag Ginger
• Costus tapenbeckianus
• Costus woodsonii

[edit] Formerly placed here

Plants for some time placed in this genus include Alpinia nutans (as Costus zerumbet)

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