**4.3** *Costus pictus* **D. Don**

*Costus pictus* (**Figure 4**) is a plant that goes upto 3 meters in height; it has tuberous root with a nearly woody base. The leaf arrangement is spiral with an elliptical shape. Leaf bears rigid and rubbery morphology. Spiral phyllotaxy is observed in

**Figure 4.** *C. pictus D. Don collected from Naojan, Golaghat.*

the primary bracts. The external appearance of the flowers as depicted in **Figure 4** is primarily are creamy colored along with pink stripes initiating from the base. The plant generally bears flower between the months of August and October.

This plant is mainly distributed in the neo tropical regions [18, 19]. In India it found in the sub-Himalayan tract from Himachal Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh; and in the Western ghats in Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
