Costus Igneous flowers

This plant has been there in our little garden for almost three years yet I did not know it's name. The plant has several stems shooting out from it's base, grows to a height of 2 feet. The long dark green leaves form a spiral around the stem. About two weeks the plant sprouted buds which eventually flowered. That's when it aroused my curiosity. On Googling flower photos I learned that it's called Insulin plant which itself states it's importance and used by diabetic patients. Its botanical name is Costus Igneous.

A day before publishing this post, i.e. Monday early morning I found stems were missing. On inspecting the stem ends, it was clear that goats had feasted on the plant. Goats are known for eating all kinds of leaves with medicinal properties hence goat's milk is considered as a super food. Well, I felt bad to see the state of the plant but it'll grow back in a few weeks.

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Coat-button flower

Memories of this simple little plant goes back to my childhood days. Firstly as kids we used used to look for its flowers, pluck them along with their long stems and then knock of the flower with a finger. It was a kids game. This plant is found all over Karnataka, it just grows on its own, its a wild plant.

The second memory is its leaves possess medicinal properties. Once I was hurt, a superficial wound on my leg. One of the girls in our group plucked a few leaves of this plant, crushed them and pressed the pulp letting the leafy juice fall into my wound. Apparently the plant's sap is antiseptic. This wonderful plant is known as cost-button or tridax daisy or Tridax procumbens in Eglish. In Kannada it's called Jayanthi Gida or Gabbusanner Savanthi.

leaves & a young bud

blooming bud

fully developed flower

I have grown a few of this plants in my hanging garden. Its nice to see the dark green leaves, its stalky flowers sway in slightest of breezes. Once the flowers dry, they become a little spiky ball, easily dispersible by air.

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