CHENNAI: Costus speciosus (Koen. ex Retz.) SM., known popularly as Crepe Ginger belongs to the family Costaceae and is one of the most interesting of the spiral gingers. This is a shrubby perennial and is used in almost all Indian systems of medicine. The plant is also mentioned in Van Rheede’s historical ethnobotanical documentation, Hortus Malabaricus.
C. speciosus is a rhizomatous shrub reaching up to three metres in height. Rhizomes (underground stems) are horizontal and creeping. Stems are sub-woody at the base and covered in purplish leaf sheaths. Leaves are up to 30 cm long and 8 cm broad, spirally arranged, with velvety soft texture on the underside that is furry to touch. Inflorescence is dense, hardy, terminal spikes; bracts are many and ovate is bright red in colour.
Flowers grow up to 7 cm in radius and are white with a yellow centre. Their corolla has a prominent lip at the throat. Fruits are capsules, globose or ovoid and red in colour. Seeds are black with white aril. It grows wild in almost all parts of the country, along stream sides and humid localities of deciduous to evergreen forests from sea level to 1500 m ASL. The plants are rarely cultivated but often planted in the gardens.
C. Speciosus has many medicinal uses. Rhizomes are used to treat boils, constipation, diarrhea, headache, giddiness, leprosy, skin diseases, fever, bronchial complaints and ear-ache, among others. According to Kama Sutra, it is also a cosmetic ingredient to be applied on the eyelashes to increase sexual attraction.
Crepe Ginger is a great landscaping plant too with shining green leaves arranged on the stalk in a spiral. One or two crimped flowers protrude from the dazzling red, cone-shaped inflorescence! Their scattered clumps will set off brilliantly against a lush-green lawn.
This plant is easy to grow with practically no pest troubles. C. Speciosus is a hardy plant. In the mild climes, it requires mild sunshine and the open and, in hot climes, it needs a bit of shade. The plant thrives in almost all light conditions. It prefers sandy loam to alluvial soils.
The crimped petals look like crepe paper thus the common name Crepe Ginger.
In Sanskrit and Marathi it is known as pushkarmula; in Hindi it is called Keu or Kust. Changalkosta is the name of this species in Kannada; Channakuva or Kottam in Malayalam and Kostam is the name in Tamil and Telugu.