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Useful Tropical Plants

Costus guanaiensis

Rusby

Costaceae

+ Synonyms

Costus longifolius Rusby

Costus macrostrobilus K.Schum.

Costus sinningiiflorus Rusby

Costus tarapotensis J.F.Macbr.

Costus tarmicus Loes.

Common Name:

Costus guanaiensis
Cacicus uropygialis, eating the fruit and seed
Photograph by: Reinaldo Aguilar
Creative Commons License
Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis Costus guanaiensis

General Information

Costus guanaiensis is a herbaceous, perennial plant producing usually unbranched stems 2 - 6 metres tall from a creeping, tuberous rhizome[
656
Title
Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 52
Author
Acevedo-Rodríguez P. & Strong M.T. (Editors)
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Smithsonian Institution; Washington.
Year
2005
ISBN
0097-1618
Description
A treatment of the monocots and gymnosperms growing in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use of its edible flowers and stem juice.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

656
Title
Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 52
Author
Acevedo-Rodríguez P. & Strong M.T. (Editors)
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Smithsonian Institution; Washington.
Year
2005
ISBN
0097-1618
Description
A treatment of the monocots and gymnosperms growing in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It can be downloaded from the Internet.

Range

S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; C. America - Panama to Mexico; Caribbean - Trinidad, Puerto Rico.

Habitat

Moist to wet thickets at elevations from 90 - 860 metres in Puerto Rico[
656
Title
Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Publication
Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 52
Author
Acevedo-Rodríguez P. & Strong M.T. (Editors)
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Smithsonian Institution; Washington.
Year
2005
ISBN
0097-1618
Description
A treatment of the monocots and gymnosperms growing in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *  *
HabitPerennial
Height4.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

A very tasty, acidulous juice is obtained from the stems[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. It can be drunk fresh, or be sweetened with sugar to make a refreshing drink[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].

Flowers - raw[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. A similar flavour to the juice obtained from the stems[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-07. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Costus+guanaiensis>

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