Heliconia

Encyclopedia : H : HE : HEL : Heliconia

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Heliconia is a genus of about 100 to 200 species of flowering plants native to the tropical Americas and the Pacific Ocean islands west to Indonesia. It is the sole genus of family Heliconiacae, but was formerly included in the family Musaceae. Common names for the genus include lobster-claw, wild plantain and false bird-of-paradise, the latter from their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia).

The leaves are 15-300 cm long , oblong, growing opposite one another on non-woody petioles often longer than the leaf, often forming large clumps with age. Their flowers are produced on long, erect or drooping panicles, and consist of brightly colored waxy bracts, with small true flowers peeping out from the bracts. The growth habit of heliconias is similar to Canna, Strelitzia (Bird-of-paradise), and bananas, to which they are related.

Heliconias are an important food source for forest hummingbirds, especially the hermits some of which, such as the Rufous-breasted Hermit, also use the plant for nesting.

Selected species

Heliconia acuminata Heliconia aemygdiana Heliconia angusta Heliconia angustifolia Heliconia aurantiaca Heliconia aurea Heliconia bicolor Heliconia bihai Heliconia bourgaeana Heliconia brasiliensis Heliconia caltheaphylla Heliconia caribaea Heliconia champneiana Heliconia chartacea Heliconia collinsiana Heliconia curtispatha Heliconia episcopalis Heliconia farinosa Heliconia hirsuta Heliconia indica Heliconia latispatha Heliconia lennartiana Heliconia lingulata Heliconia magnifica Heliconia mariae Heliconia marthiasiae Heliconia metallica

Heliconia mutisiana Heliconia nutans Heliconia ortotricha Heliconia pearcei Heliconia paka Heliconia pendula Heliconia platystachys Heliconia pogonantha Heliconia pseudoaemygdiana Heliconia psittacorum Heliconia ramonensis Heliconia richardiana Heliconia rostrata Heliconia schiedeana Heliconia shumanniana Heliconia spathocircinata Heliconia spissa Heliconia stricta Heliconia subulata Heliconia tortuosa Heliconia vaginalis Heliconia vellerigera Heliconia velloziana Heliconia velutina Heliconia wagneriana Heliconia xanthovillosa Heliconia zebrina

Several cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including:

• H. psittacorum L. f. x H. spathocircinata Aristeg., both species of South America, manily Brazil.
• H. x rauliniana Barreiros = H. marginata Pettier (Venezuela) x H. bihai L. f. (Brazil).

Cultivation

Heliconias are grown for the florist's trade and as landscape plants. The flower of H. psittacorum, or Parrot Heliconia, is especially distinctive, for its greenish-yellow flowers and black spots bear a remarkable resemblance to a parrot's feathers.

Media

Image: Heliconia rostrata 2.jpg|Heliconia rostrata, a botanical garden, Costa Rica Image: Heliconia.jpg| a botanical garden, Costa Rica Image: 0010heliconia.JPG|Heliconia rostrata in the Northern Range, Trinidad Image:0087sexypink.JPG|H. chartacea 'Sexy Pink' in Northern Range, Trinidad Image:HHeliconia.JPG|H. mariae in Hawaii Image:heliconia.rostrata.kewgardens.london.arp.jpg|H. rostrata at Kew Gardens, London Image:Flower5b.jpg|H. latispatha in Belize Image:Flower5.JPG|H. latispatha flower

External links

• [Heliconias of Peru] (pdf file with scientific name and photos) in Spanish

 

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