Costus igneus, common name Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag, is a a species of herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family. It is claimed^[who?] to help build up insulin in the human body and is sometimes referred to as the Insulin Plant.^{[citation needed]} This plant was grown in Americas and is becoming popular in India because of its medicinal chemicals.^{[citation needed]} It is now accepted and used widely as an Ayurvedic medicinal herb.

The leaves of this plant has large fleshy looking. The plant grows very quickly. And the propagation is by stem cutting. It needs sunshine but it also grows in slightly shady areas.

The undersides of these large, smooth, dark green leaves of plant have light purple undersides. The leaves are spirally arranged around stems, forming attractive, arching clumps arising from underground rootstocks. The maximum height of these plants is about two feet tall. The flowers are orange in color and are beautiful, 1.5-inch diameter. Flowering occurs during the warm months. And they appear to be cone-like heads at the tips of branches.

[edit] Medicinal use

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Allopathic doctors also recommend it. It is also possible to consume the leaves by drying and grinding powder of the leaves.

[edit] Taxonomy

• Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
• Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
• Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
• Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
• Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
• Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
• Class: Liliopsida () - Scopoli, 1760
• Subclass: Commelinidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
• Superorder: Zingiberanae () - Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
• Order: Zingiberales () - Grisebach, 1854
• Family: Costaceae () - Nakai, 1941 - Spiralflag Family
• Subfamily: Asteroideae ()
• Tribe: Coreopsideae ()
• Genus: Costus () - Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 2. 1753. - Costus
• Specific epithet: igneus - N.E.Br.
• Botanical name: - Costus igneus N.E.Br.

References ZipcodeZoo

[edit] References

• Hypoglycemic potential of Morus indica. L and Costus igneus
• Taxonomy of Costus Igneus

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