page_title: Costus curvibracteatus
section_title: Habit and description
hierarchical_section_title: Costus curvibracteatus / Habit and description
caption_attribution_description: English: Species from Costa Rica and PanamaPhotographed at the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
context_page_description: Costus curvibracteatus is a tropical rhizomatous perennial native to Costa Rica and Panama. A member of the spiral ginger family of plants, its common name is orange tulip ginger. It is also sometimes referred to as spiral ginger; however, this common name is better associated with Costus barbatus, a more widely cultivated and very similar species. Despite the name and its relation to the ginger family, the rhizomes of the orange tulip ginger are not edible.
context_section_description: An evergreen perennial, the large leaves of C. curvibracteatus can be effective ground cover, ranging in size from 15 to 35 centimetres (5.9 to 13.8 in) long and 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) wide. They are glossy and glabrous above, but hirsute on the edges and underside, and alternately arranged on a spiralling stem, which has a diameter about 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.59 to 0.98 in). Coriaceous (leather-like texture) and dark green, the leaves are obovate to elliptic, with a cuneate to rounded base, and the apex is usually acute to acuminate. One of the main features that distinguishes C. barbatus from C. curvibracteatus is the size of the ligule; that of the former is larger, by about 10 to 20 mm (0.39 to 0.79 in).
  Glossy, overlapping bracts form a terminal inflorescence, that is spike-shaped to ovoid. The bracts are red to orange, usually becoming more orange at the apex, which curves outward. The inflorescence is quite variable in size, ranging from 4 to 18 centimetres (1.6 to 7.1 in) long and 3 to 9 centimetres (1.2 to 3.5 in) cm broad. During flowering, small, hermaphroditic yellow or orange tubular florets emerge among the bracts. They are usually about as long as the bracts but can be substantially longer.
  The height of the plant overall is typically between 1 and 1.5 metres (3 ft 3 in and 4 ft 11 in), though it occasionally can grow as tall as 3 metres (9.8 ft). Its rhizomes are about 20 millimetres (0.79 in) thick. Unlike its relative Zingiber officinale, the rhizomes are not edible, and it is not used as a spice.
caption: Detail of the florets and bracts of a flowering orange tulip ginger
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