Costus is a group of perennial herbaceous plants in the family Costaceae. It is widespread through tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Costus Woodsonii are very common here. The climate is conducive. Thus, they grow easily. They are favoured as a decorative landscape and garden plant.
Another name, or rather, other names for Costus woodsonii are - Red Button Ginger, Scarlet Spiral Flag, Red Cane, Panamanian Candle Ginger, Dwarf French Kiss.
Red Button Ginger, named thus because of its lovely flower head that comes forth as a luscious red button, is one of the robust spiral gingers in the Costus family that has more than 100 species.
“Red Button Ginger will flower profusely throughout the year in the tropics and other warmer regions. In fabulous contrast with the green foliage, lipstick-red inflorescences will appear at terminal stems. The flowering spike is made up of waxy red bracts, tightly overlapping like fish scales, to form an erect, cigar-shaped or torpedo-like flower head, 6-10 cm tall.” - Wikipedia
“The true reddish-orange flowers with inconspicuous orange-yellow Labellum are edible and will peek out one at a time from between the red bracts, lasting for only a day per flower. Surprisingly, it’s not the flowers but the waxy red bracts on the conical inflorescence that will secrete the sweet sugary fluid from its extrafloral nectaries, attracting ants that come to harvest the nectar and help protect the seeds from being destroyed by larvae of certain flies. Fruits and seeds are sparingly developed.” - Wikipedia
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