Costus phyllocephalus

Native to tropical Africa, from Nigeria through Central Africa to southwestern Uganda and northern Zambia, it is a perennial herb reaching about ten feet tall. It grows from underground rhizomes, with spirally arranged leaves often concentrated near the tops of reddish stems. A long, brown, papery extension of each leaf sheath splits into two unequal lobes. Rounded to egg-shaped flowerheads bear green to reddish-purple bracts, usually with spreading, leaflike tips. The broad flower lip is white to pink, often striped with darker pink or purple, with a yellow mark in the throat and wavy or fringed edges. The species grows in rainforests, riverbank forests and other moist places. Photographed in Ecuador.