Costus chinensis T. L. Wu & S. J. Chen.

Stems 1--2 m. Leaf sheaths hirsute when young, glabrescent when old, apex ciliate; leaf blade subsessile, elliptic or lanceolate-oblong, 25--35 × 7--13 cm, adaxially glabrescent, abaxially hirsute, base attenuate, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal, ovoid, 6--11 × 4.5--7.5 cm; bracts ovate or broadly so, 3--5 × 1.5--2 cm, hirsute, breaking into fibers when old; bracteoles ovate. Flowers pink. Calyx oblong, ca. 3 cm, split to base on 1 side, apex 3-toothed; teeth ca. 1.5 × 1 cm, yellow, rounded, and hirsute at apex. Corolla tube ca. 1.5 cm; lobes oblong, 3.5--5 × 2.5--3 cm. Labellum pink, trumpet-shaped, ca. 9 × 6--7 cm, margin crisped. Stamen petaloid, oblong, ca. 5 × 1.2 cm, apex convex. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 2.5 cm, hirsute, dehiscing loculicidally, apex with persistent calyx. Seeds black. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Sep--Nov. 2 n = 18*.

Moist places in forests; 1100--2200 m. Guangxi, Xizang,Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Sikkim, N Thailand].