Costus potierae is one of the only two species of Costus in FNQ. Both species are spiral gingers as their family name suggests but in this species, the flowers are held high above the ground, whereas the other, C. dubius, the flowering inflorescence is held just perhaps a foot above ground level.
I think the pollinators of the two species must be quite different to account for such difference in flower position. A great study subject for a pollination biologist.
About David Tng
I am
David Tng, a hedonistic botanizer who pursues plants with a fervour. I chase the opportunity to delve into various aspects of the study of plants. I have spent untold hours staring at mosses and allied plants, taking picture of pollen, culturing orchids in clean cabinets, counting tree rings, monitoring plant flowering times, etc. I am currently engrossed in the study of plant ecology (a grand excuse to see 'anything I can). Sometimes I think of myself as a shadow taxonomist, a sentimental ecologist, and a spiritual environmentalist - but at the very root of it all, a "plant whisperer"!
Leaf Whispering in the Tropics 