Upright white Costus flower with a red-striped upper lip and green bracts

Costus guanaiensis


Native to Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil, this perennial herb grows from rhizomes. Its narrow leaves are densely hairy underneath. Red to pink flowers have an upright lip with curled-back edges. It inhabits moist foothill and mountain forests and flowers during the rainy season. Photographed in the department of Bolivar, Colombia.

White Costus flower with red stripes above overlapping green bracts
Close view of a white Costus flower with a red-striped upper lip

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