''Costus productus'', known as orange tulip ginger, dwarf orange ginger, or green mountain spiral flag, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of plant in the

Costaceae Costaceae, known as the ''Costus'' family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-parad ...

family. ''Costus productus'' is native to South Colombia and Peru. ''Costus productus'' var. ''strigosis'' is a hairy variety from southern Colombia, while ''Costus productus'' var. ''productus'' is a smooth variety from Peru. The cultivated forms of ''Costus productus'' are all ''C. productus'' var. ''productus'', and there are several different cultivars. The flowers of ''Costus productus'' are edible. The

Yanesha people The Yaneshaʼ or Amuesha people are an ethnic group of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Presently, the most recent census count puts their population at over 7,000 distributed among 48 communities located in Puerto Inca Province (Huánuco), Ch ...

use ''Costus productus'' along with ''

Bactris gasipaes ''Bactris gasipaes'' is a species of Arecaceae, palm native to the tropical forests of Central America, Central and South America. It is well spread in these regions, where it is often cultivated by smallholders in agroforestry systems or more ...

'' and ''

Bromelia ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ch ...

'' species to treat symptoms of epilepsy. ''Costus productus'' has been often incorrectly identified as ''

Costus curvibracteatus ''Costus curvibracteatus'' is a tropical rhizomatous perennial native to Costa Rica and Panama. Taxonomy The first description of ''Costus curvibracteatus'' as a species was published by the Dutch botanist Paul Maas in 1976 in the ''Acta Botani ...

''.

References

productus ''Productus subaculeatus'' is an extinct species of brachiopods. Its fossils are present in the Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the ...

Flora of Colombia Flora of Peru {{Zingiberales-stub