Spiral Ginger-Costus Dubius-Thebu | SL Flora

SL Flora


Spiral Ginger-Costus Dubius-Thebu

Spiral flag or Thebu is native to Sri Lanka India and several African countries including Ghana and Tanzania.It is a wild plant that found in wood lands and border of paddy field in wetland areas in Sri Lanka as a scrubs..The dense grown scrub sometime may be invasive but the plant sometime grow as a ornamental. This species is very close to Crape ginger plant so people are confuse with the species when uses of the medicinal remedy Green leaves that are arranged spirally along the stems . Stems are also green and spiral that similar to the Crape ginger. (Cheilocostus speciosus) Main difference vs Crape ginger are flowers of Spiral flag are white with yellow center that produce from rhizomes and leaves and stems are green while scrape Ginger stems are color in red and flowers bloom on only end of the stems.Occasionally, Spiral flag plant flowers bloom on end of the stems too. Propagation is very easy by stems
Common Classification
Common NamesSpiral Flag, Showy Costus, Zingiber spiral
Scientific NameCostus Dubius
Sinhala NameThebu, Sudu Thebu, Wal Thebu,  Kelaniya Gas
Scientific Classification
FamilyCostaceae
GenusCostus
SpeciesC.dubius
SynonymCostus edulis, Costus trachyphyllus.
Ecology
CategoryOrnamental - Weeds
Growth HabitShrub Status - NativeNative
DurationPerennial Status (Controlling)Natural
Propriety
Culinary / Edible NoOther use n/a
Use as HerbNoPoisoned / ToxinYes
Identification
FlowersLeaves
Fruits
Costus Flowers bloom end of the stems
Costus Dubius flowers from rhizomes
Related speciesCrape Ginger - Cheilocostus speciosus - Thebu
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