COSTUS: Nigeria's Floral Emblem

Botanical name : Costus spectabilis

Order : Zingiberales

Family : Costaceae

Genus : Costus

Location :
  This geophyte is found over much of tropical Africa in Benin, Burkina Faso , Côte d'Ivoir , Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda , Angola , Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Description : 
   Costus spectabilis is the floral emblem of Nigeria, its flowers are represented on its coat of arms It is one of some 109 species belonging to the family of Costaceae, all tropical and occurring in Asia, Africa, Australiaand the Americas. Their underground storage organs are rhizomes , and they are largely shade-loving, with some species able to grow in full sunlight. They prefer moist soil and a humid climate. The rhizomes, which are covered in brown papery scales which are hairy in their lower half, lengthen, spreading below ground level to form new offshoots contours of the pot. Closely related to the Ginger family Zingiberaceae, it produces 4 large(12 x 12 cm), fleshy leaves which lie flat on the ground and form a basal rosette. They are glabres above and pubescent below, especially along the midrib. The leaf margin is entire, often with an edging of purple-pink. The inflorescence is terminal, growing from the centre of the rosette. The flowers are showy, yellow, and open singly and die rapidly, but are immediately followed by another. It is found in wooded grassland and deciduous woodland, occasionally near termite mounds or around rocks. The species becomes dormant during winter, shrinking to a centipede-like rhizome without roots. In spring it produces paddle-shaped leaves that apples to the soil when fully formed, and similar to water-lily pads. The abaxial leaf surface has a spongy white texture. Flowers are bright yellow with a crisped margin, and some 9 cm across, with a large staminodial labellum, and resembling those of a pumpkin. The texture of the flower is soft and thin.

Propagation:
Propagation is sexual by seeds

Habitat: 
   In wooded grassland and deciduous woodland, often near termite mounds or among rocks