Family: Costaceae
High Risk Traits:
- Thrives in tropical climates
- Possibly naturalized in India and Puerto Rico
- Other Costus species have naturalized and may be invasive
- Tolerates many soil conditions
- Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively by rhizomes
- Flowers at 2 years, but may be able to reproduce vegetatively at an earlier age
- Lack of ecological information minimizes accuracy of risk prediction
Low Risk Traits:
- No evidence of invasiveness outside native range
- Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
- Ornamental value
- Hummingbird-pollinated in native range (may limit seed set where hummingbirds are absent)
- Limited or lacking seed production may minimize longer distance dispersal