Costus pictus

Native from Mexico to Costa Rica, it is a perennial herb reaching about thirteen feet tall. Its leafy stems carry narrow, elliptical to spoon-shaped leaves in spirals, often with wavy margins. Compact, rounded to egg-shaped flowerheads usually terminate leafy shoots, though some plants flower on separate leafless shoots. The overlapping bracts are mostly green, with orange-red forms also occurring. Large flowers have a broad, spreading lip striped with dark red and a recurved central lobe marked with yellow. Rounded capsules contain black seeds. The species grows in rainforests, forest clearings and along watercourses. Photographed in Panama.