Costus comosus var. bakeri
Red velvet ginger, spiral ginger
Red velvet ginger is native to Costa Rica, and not found in the wild in North America. Many cultivated varieties are available. They are usually misidentified as Costus barbatus, but this species is critically endangered and not cultivated.
Plants: Up to 9′ (2.7 m) tall. Stems are spiral-shaped.
Leaves: Oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, with pointed tips, dark green and glossy above, fuzzy beneath. about 4–20″ (10–50 cm) long.
Flowers: Flowers consist of brilliant red egg-shaped spirally arranged bracts (modified leaves), with bright yellow tubular flowers poking out. The red flowerheads are 7–13″ (17–33 cm) tall. They flower from April to November.
Edibility: Yellow flowerheads are edible and lemony-tasting. The red portion is not though—it is composed of specialized leaves.
Online References:
4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 21 cm) 
8/31/2013 · Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia · ≈ 7 × 10″ (18 × 24 cm) 
4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 21 cm) 
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 4½ × 5″ (12 × 13 cm) 
4/10/2015 · Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida · ≈ 15 × 10″ (37 × 25 cm) 
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 4 × 4½″ (10 × 11 cm) 
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Liliopsida | Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family |
| Subclass | Zingiberidae | Gingers and related plants |
| Order | Zingiberales | Ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galangal, myoga, bananas, arrowroot, and others |
| Family | Costaceae | Plants found throughout the tropics, with 5 fused staminodes (vs. 2) and no aromatic oils |
| Genus | Costus | Ginger-like plants with spiraling stems |
| Species | comosus | Leafy |
| var. | bakeri | After Milo Samuel Baker (1868-1961), a botanist who listed thousands of Sonoma County North Coast plants. |
Costus comosus var. bakeri description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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