Botany
· Stems stout, leafy, up to 2 m or more in height, and 1.6 cm in diameter.
· Leaves: spirally arranged, oblong, 15 to 30 cm long, with pointed tip, short stalks and covered with soft hairs on the lower surface.
· Flowers: in very dense, solitary spikes. Spikes terminal, ovoid, 5 to 10 cm long; purple bracts ovate, 2.5 to 4.5 cm long. Calyx flattened, purple, 3 to 5 cm long, with short, ovate lobes. Corolla segments white, oblong, 4 to 6 cm long, lip white, suborbicular, 6 to 8 cm long, wrinkled, irregularly and rather finely toothed, the margins incurved and meeting. Stamen flat and including the broad petaloid connective, is about 5 cm long and 12 to 15 cm wide.
· Fruits: capsules, ovoid to rounded, 1.5 to 2 cm long, red, crowned by the persistent calyx.

Distribution
Widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, sometimes escaping from cultivation.

Parts utilized:
· Rhizome and stems.
· Collected during the months of August to October.
· Wash free of soil, remove roots, section into pieces and sun-dry.

Properties
Acidic-refrigerant, slightly toxic (especially the fresh material).
Diuretic, antiphlogistic, antidote, antipyretic, antidermatosis., cooling, sudorific.
Roots are bitter, astringent, stimulant, digestive, anthelminthic, depurative and aphrodisiac.

Uses
Folkloric
In the Visayas, juice of stems used for dysentery.
In India, the rhizome has been used as famine food.
Roots used for catarrhal fevers, coughs, dyspepsia, worms and skin diseases.
In Malaya, juice of rhizome used as purgative.
In Java, rhizome has reported use for syphilis.
Nephritis-beriberi-edema due to hardening (sclerosis) of the liver, difficulty in urination, pricking pain in the urinary tract.
Nettle rash, whooping cough.
Dosage: use 3 to 9 gms of dried material in decoction. Dried or fresh material decoction may be used as external application for nettle rash.

Studies
• Anti-Diabetes: Study of crude extract of Costus speciosus rhizomes lowered the plasma glucose in STZ-induced diabetic rats which may be due to potentiation of insulin from B-cells. The rhizome of CS may be beneficial in protection and alleviation of diabetic complications.
• Antihyperglycemic / Hypolipidemic / Antioxidant: Study of in alloxan-induced diabetic rats showed CS root extract to possess anti-hyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant effects.
• Diosgenin: Study found a new source of diosgenin in the rhizomes of C speciosus, a potential source of commercial for its isolation, with the advantage of abundant growth in the plains.
• Spasmodic Activity / Ecbolic: Fresh juice of rhizomes increased the tone, amplitude and frequency of rhythmic contractions of different models of isolated uterus, an effect that explains its use as an ecbolic in indigenous systems. The extract study yielded a mixture of 5 saponins of two different types.
• Hepatoprotective Activity: Study of ethanolic extract of the rhizomes of C speciosus on carbon tetrachloride treated rats showed significant hepatoprotective activity with a significant fall in liver enzymes supported by histopathologicql studies on the liver.
• Aliphatic Compounds: Study yielded two new compounds, G and H, from the roots of Costus speciosus characterized as 8-hydroxytriaconta-25-one and Me-tritriacontanoat.
• Anti-Stress / Neurotransmitter Effects: Extracts were found to possess normalizing activity against cold immobilization stress induced changes in NE, DA, 5-HT and MAO. Results provide biochemical evidence for antistress activity.
• Eremanthin / Anti-Diabetic / Hypolipidemic: Study isolated eremanthin from C speciosus. Results showed it possessed hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities and suggests potential use for treatment of diabetes.
• Anticholinesterase: Study showed C specious alkaloids to possess anticholinesterase activity in both in vitro and in vivo methods and may explain the use of the plant in eye diseases and as a dupurative.

Availability
Wild-crafted.