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Common name: Costus Family.
Number of genera 4. Number of species ca. 150 (based on Zingiberaceae).
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; crowned by sepals; with styles(s); at apex; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; from 1–5 cm long; 4–5 cm long; 3-carpellate, or 2-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; in transection angled; 3-angled; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent (rarely). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively; at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril present; a true aril; white, or yellow; well developed; adnate to hilum; fleshy; of funicular origin; apical; fleshy; fimbriate-laciniate, or cushionlike (Dimerocostus, Costus speciousus (J. König) Sm.); with straight hairlike fringe (assumed); unlobed. Seed larger than minute; 2–4 mm long; straight; in transection sub terete; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with chalazosperm, or perisperm, or endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; shiny; surface unsmooth; surface with depressed features; surface 1- grooved; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; with operculum (bulbous shaped); colored; monochrome; black, or brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve, or surrounding embryo. Endosperm development helobial; scant (little); without fatty acid containing cyclopropene.
Perisperm copious; mealy; with starch; with compound starch grains; opaque. Chalazosperm copious; mealy; transparent; with starch; with starch composed of clustered grains; with compound starch grains. Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; straight; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon. Cotyledons one and not modified into scutellum; not circinately coiled.
Distribution
Pantropical. New World, Old World. Middle America, South America, Africa, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
From literature: Fruit rarely also indehiscent or irregularly breaking when old or when fruit decays to release seeds there is left behind a trialate septal remnant.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Costus L. -- Dimerocostus Kuntze -- Monocostus K. Schum. -- Tapeinochilos Miq., nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1180.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Engler, A. 1900–1953. Das Pflanzenreich, nos. 1–107. Facsimile edition. Engelmann-Cramer, Weinheim, Flora Neotropica. 1968–74. Nos. 1–14. Hafner Publishing Company, Darien and 1976-. Nos. 15-present. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx [monograph number], Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Engler. Seed illustration(s): Engler, Flora Neotropica [8]. Embryo illustration(s): Engler.
• Seed. 1 of 2. Costus speciosus (J. König) Sm.: seeds. • Embryo. 2 of 2. Costus speciosus (J. König) Sm.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
