Chamaecostus cuspidatus - Bandhukapushpa

Chamaecostus cuspidatus, insulin plant

Chamaecostus cuspidatus is a species of herbaceous plant in the Costaceae family native to eastern Brazil. In India, it is known as insulin plant because of its use in Ayurvedic medicine for its purported anti-diabetic properties.

Uses

Diabetes.

Parts Used

Dried Leaves.

Chemical Composition

Leaves are rich in protein, iron, ad antioxidant components such as ascorbic acid, a-tocopherol, ß-carotene, terpenoids, steroids, and flavonoids. Ethanol extract of leaves yielded tannins, phlobatannins, saponin, flavonoids, terpenoids, and cardiac glycosides. Study for essential oil yielded the following major constituents in %: (Stem) hexadecanoic acid, octadecadienoic acid, dodecanoic acid, linalyl propanoate, tetradecanoic acid, A-eudesmol, y-eudesmost 4-ethoxy phenol; (Leaf) hexadecanoic acid, 2.pentanol, dodecanoic acid, ß-ionone, farnesyl acetone, a-ionone (Rhizome) hexadecanoic acid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, dodecanoic acid , tetradecanoic acid, linalool, a-terpinol

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada	Kempu honne
Hindi	Banda, Bija-sal, Peisar, Jarul, Keukand
Malayalam	Honne, Karintakara, Vengai, Venna-maram
Tamil	Neyccarikamaram, Venkal
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit	Asana, Bandhukapushpa
English	Fiery costus, spiral flag

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Habit

Sub terrestrial plant

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
simple	alternate	entire, oblong, 4-8 inches long with parallel venation, spirally arranged around the stems. Large, fleshy, smooth, and dark green leaves have a light purple underside

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Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
unisexual	1.5 inches in diameter	orange	5-20	on cone-like head at the tips of branches

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
short legume	0.5 inch		Fruits are green colored, less than 0.5 inch.	12-20 seeds	{{{6}}}

Other features

List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used

• Vishatinduka Taila as root juice extract

Mode of Propagation

Division of clumps, Cuttings.

How to plant/cultivate

As this plant is perinnial. They prefer a either full sun or partial shade. It needs fertile soil &ample moisture. It is often planted near water.The substrate should be sandy loam. They can tolerate temperature only above at leaves. They are good for under planting. They reach the height up to 4-8 inches. This plant grows at the temperature zone of zone 9. It requires shade to part shade light..

Commonly seen growing in areas

Central Atlantic rain forest, South america, Himalayan regions.

Photo Gallery

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External Links

• Chamaecostus cuspidatus on wikipedia.org
• Chamaecostus cuspidatus on stuartxchange.org