Costaceae

Costus deistellii

The Costaceae are a family that to order the ginger -like ( Zingiberales ) is one of the monocots. The family now includes seven genera with 110-120 species.

In contrast to the Zingiberaceae smell in Costaceae not aromatic plants. It will be used by the people hardly types of Costaceae. From time to time individual species can be seen as an ornamental plant in tropical parks and gardens. Almost everyone Botanical Garden exhibition of some species. As houseplants, you will hardly find copies. From the rhizomes of Cheilocostus speciosus, syn: Costus speciosus strength is obtained.

Description

There are perennial herbaceous plants with rhizomes. Some taxa are succulent, others are climbing plants, a few species are epiphytes. You are not aromatic, unlike their relatives, the ginger family ( Zingiberaceae ). There are long, mostly unbranched, branched in some species, usually spirally twisted stems formed ( no " pseudo- tribes " such as in the Musaceae ). The alternate and spirally on the stem arranged leaves are usually divided into petiole and leaf blade. The simple leaf blade is narrow to broadly elliptical, smooth or hairy and entire. The leaf sheath surrounds the stem at least in part.

The terminal, cone -like, or more rarely aged men zymösen inflorescences have large, often brightly colored bracts ( bracts ); in a few species the flowers are single or in pairs. The hermaphrodite flowers are triple and zygomorphic. The three sepals and petals are free. Of the original six stamens in each flower is only a fruitful ( fertile ) with a broad stamens; the other five are converted to staminodes, which are to a labellum that is larger than the petals, fused. Three carpels are a inferior ovary adherent to many ovules per ovary chamber. Pollination is by insects ( entomophily ) or bats ( Chiropterophilie ).

The flowers formula is:

They usually form two - insulated draft tube or capsule fruits with many seeds. Sometimes there are also nut fruits. The starchy, black seeds and have a white or yellow aril.

Systematics and distribution

The distribution is pantropical, with emphasis on the Neotropics and the Pacific Islands.

The family contains 110 to 120 species. Since 1962, the Tomlinson family contained only four genera. In 2006, some species of the genus Costus S. L. placed in the three new genera Cheilocostus, Chamaecostus, Paracostus so that the family now seven genera are attributed to:

  • Dimerocostus Kuntze (syn.: Mulfordia Rusby ): Neotropical With two ways: Dimerocostus strobilaceus Kuntze, with three subspecies.
  • Dimerocostus argenteus ( Ruiz & Pav ) Maas
  • Monocostus uniflorus ( Poepp. ex Petersen ) Maas ( syn.. Monocostus ulei K.Schum ) is endemic to the Rio Huallaga near the city of Tarapoto in Peru at an altitude of about 500 meters.
  • Paracostus englerianus ( K.Schum. ) C.Specht, in tropical Africa.
  • Paracostus paradoxus ( K.Schum. ) C.Specht, on the Indonesian archipelago.

Pictures

Tapeinochilos ananassae:

Inflorescence

Inflorescence

Costus species ( Costus ):

Costus barbatus

Costus dubius

Inflorescence and flower of Costus malortieanus.

Costus pictus.

Swell

  • The Costaceae in APWebsite family. (English )
  • The Costaceae at DELTA of L.Watson and MJDallwitz family.
  • Delin Wu & Kai Larsen: Costaceae in the Flora of China, Volume 24, p 320: Online. (English )
  • Chelsea D. Specht & Dennis Wm Stevenson: A new phylogeny - based generic classification of Costaceae ( Zingiberales ) in taxon, Volume 55, Number 1, 2006, pp. 153-163. Online.
Karl Moritz Schumann Perennial plant Vine Ovary (botany) Huallaga River
204668
de