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Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Zingiberales

Familia: Heliconiaceae
Genus: Heliconia
Subgenera: H. subg. Griggsia – H. subg. Heliconia – H. subg. Heliconiopsis – H. subg. Stellochlamys – H. subg. Taeniostrobus
Species: H. abaloi – H. acuminata – H. adflexa – H. aemygdiana – H. albicosta – H. angelica – H. angusta – H. apparicioi – H. arrecta – H. atratensis – H. atropurpurea – H. aurantiaca – H. aurea – H. auriculata – H. badilloi – H. barryana – H. beckneri – H. bella – H. berguidoi – H. berriziana – H. berryi – H. bihai – H. bourgaeana – H. brachyantha – H. brenneri – H. burleana – H. calatheiphylla – H. caquetensis – H. carajaensis – H. caribaea – H. carmelae – H. chartacea – H. chrysocraspeda – H. clinophila – H. colgantea – H. collinsiana – H. combinata – H. cordata – H. crassa – H. cristata – H. cucullata – H. curtispatha – H. danielsiana – H. darienensis – H. dasyantha – H. densiflora – H. dielsiana – H. donstonea – H. episcopalis – H. estherae – H. estiletioides – H. excelsa – H. farinosa – H. faunorum – H. fernandezii – H. foreroi – H. fragilis – H. fredberryana – H. fugax – H. gaiboriana – H. gigantea – H. gilbertiana – H. gloriosa – H. gracilis – H. griggsiana – H. harlingii – H. hirsuta – H. holmquistiana – H. huilensis – H. ignescens – H. imbricata – H. impudica – H. indica – H. intermedia – H. irrasa – H. juliani – H. juruana – H. kautzkiana – H. lanata – H. lankesteri – H. lasiorachis – H. latispatha – H. laufao – H. laxa – H. lentiginosa – H. librata – H. lingulata – H. litana – H. longa – H. longiflora – H. lophocarpa – H. lourteigiae – H. lozanoi – H. luciae – H. lutea – H. lutheri – H. maculata – H. magnifica – H. marginata – H. mariae – H. markiana – H. mathiasiae – H. meridensis – H. metallica – H. mincana – H. monteverdensis – H. mooreana – H. mucilagina – H. mucronata – H. mutisiana – H. nariniensis – H. necrobracteata – H. nigripraefixa – H. nitida – H. nubigena – H. nutans – H. obscura – H. obscuroides – H. oleosa – H. orthotricha – H. osaensis – H. paka – H. paludigena – H. papuana – H. pardoi – H. pastazae – H. peckenpaughii – H. pendula – H. penduloides – H. peteriana – H. platystachys – H. pogonantha – H. pruinosa – H. pseudoaemygdiana – H. psittacorum – H. ramonensis – H. regalis – H. reptans – H. reticulata – H. revoluta – H. rhodantha – H. richardiana – H. rigida – H. riopalenquensis – H. rivularis – H. robertoi – H. robusta – H. rodriguensis – H. rodriguezii – H. rostrata – H. samperiana – H. sanctae-theresae – H. santaremensis – H. sarapiquensis – H. scarlatina – H. schiedeana – H. schumanniana – H. sclerotricha – H. secunda – H. sessilis – H. signa-hispanica – H. solomonensis – H. spathocircinata – H. spiralis – H. spissa – H. standleyi – H. stella-maris – H. stilesii – H. stricta – H. subulata – H. sucrei – H. tacarcunae – H. talamancana – H. tandayapensis – H. tenebrosa – H. terciopela – H. thomasiana – H. timothei – H. titanum – H. tortuosa – H. trichocarpa – H. triflora – H. umbrophila – H. uxpanapensis – H. vaginalis – H. vellerigera – H. velutina – H. venusta – H. veracruzensis – H. villosa – H. virginalis – H. wagneriana – H. willisiana – H. wilsonii – H. xanthovillosa – H. zebrina
Nothospecies: H. × flabellata – H. × mantenensis – H. × nickeriensis – H. × plagiotropa – H. × rauliniana
Name

Heliconia L., 1771, nom. cons.

Typus: Heliconia bihai (L.) L.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Bihai Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4. 1754, nom. rej.
Heliconiopsis Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 590. 1859.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Asia-Tropical
Malesia
Maluku,
Papuasia
Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
Southwestern Pacific
Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu,
Northern America
Mexico
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast,
Southern America
Central America
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama,
Caribbean
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Islands,
Northern South America
French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela,
Western South America
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Brazil
Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South,
Southern South America
Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Paraguay.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1771. Mantissa Plantarum Altera. Generum Editionis VI et Specierum Editionis II. Holmiae [Stockholm]. pp. [6] + 143­–587, Appendix. BHL Reference page. : 2: 147.

Additional references

Rodríguez, Gilberto. 1954: “Sobre Heliconia latispatha Bentham y una especie no descrita confundida con ella”. Acta Biologica Venezuelica. Caracas, 1(12): 209–212.
Rodríguez, Gilberto. 1954: “Revisión del género Heliconia en Venezuela”. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales. Caracas. 15(81): 117–130.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Heliconia in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 07. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Heliconia. Published online. Accessed: Oct 07 2021.
Tropicos.org 2021. Heliconia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 07.
Hassler, M. 2021. Heliconia. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 07. Reference page.

Vernacular names
English: Lobster Claws
中文: 赫蕉属

Heliconia, derived from the Greek word Ἑλικώνιος (helikṓnios) , is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species[3] are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku.[2] Many species of Heliconia are found in the tropical forests of these regions. Most species are listed as either vulnerable or data deficient by the IUCN Red List of threatened species.[4] Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia, and Thailand.[5] Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, toucan beak, wild plantain, or false bird-of-paradise. The last term refers to their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia). Collectively, these plants are also simply referred to as "heliconias".

Description

These herbaceous plants range from 0.5 to nearly 4.5 m (1.5–15 ft) tall, depending on the species.[6] The simple leaves of these plants are 15–300 cm (6 in–10 ft). They are characteristically long, oblong, alternate, or growing opposite one another on nonwoody 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, and bananas, to which they are related. The flowers can be hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens, and are subtended by brightly colored bracts. Floral shape often limits pollination to a subset of the hummingbirds in the region.[7]
Leaf

The leaves in different positions on the plant have a different absorption potential of sunlight for photosynthesis when exposed to different degrees of sunlight.[8] They also look like lobster claws.
Flower

The flowers produce ample nectar that attracts pollinators, most prevalent of which are hummingbirds.[9]
Heliconia rostrata growing in West Bengal, India
Heliconia rostrata Inflorescence close up
Seeds

Fruits are blue-purple when ripe and primarily bird dispersed.[10] Studies of post-dispersal seed survival showed that seed size was not a determinant. The highest amount of seed predation came from mammals.[11]
Taxonomy

Heliconia is the only genus in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae, but was formerly included in the family Musaceae, which includes the bananas (e.g., Musa, Ensete;[12]). However, the APG system of 1998, and its successor, the APG II system of 2003, confirm the Heliconiaceae as distinct and places them in the order Zingiberales, in the commelinid clade of monocots.
Cladogram: Phylogeny of Zingiberales[13]

Zingiberales
Zingiberineae
Zingiberariae

Zingiberaceae

Costaceae

Cannariae

Cannaceae

Marantaceae

Strelitziineae

Lowiaceae

Strelitziaceae

Heliconiaceae

Musaceae



Species

Species accepted by Kew Botanic Gardens[5]

Image Scientific name Distribution
Heliconia abaloi Colombia
False Bird-of-paradise (Heliconia acuminata) (28283687409).jpg Heliconia acuminata South America
Heliconia adflexa S Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
Heliconia aemygdiana 1zz.jpg Heliconia aemygdiana South America
Heliconia albicosta Costa Rica
Heliconia angelica Ecuador
Heliconia angusta (BG Zurich)-02.JPG Heliconia angusta SE Brazil
Heliconia apparicioi Ecuador, Peru, NW Brazil
Heliconia arrecta Colombia
Heliconia atratensis Colombia
Heliconia atropurpurea Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica
Heliconia aurantiaca 09.jpg Heliconia aurantiaca S Mexico, Central America
Heliconia auriculata Bahia
Heliconia badilloi Colombia
Heliconia barryana Chiriquí
Heliconia beckneri Costa Rica
Heliconia bella Panama
Heliconia berguidoi E Panama
Heliconia berriziana Colombia
Heliconia berryi Napo, Ecuador
Heliconia bihai 01 by Line1.jpg Heliconia bihai West Indies, N South America
024 bourgaeana.jpg Heliconia bourgaeana S Mexico, Central America
Heliconia brachyantha Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Heliconia brenneri Ecuador
Heliconia burleana.jpg Heliconia burleana Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Heliconia caltheaphylla Costa Rica
Heliconia caquetensis Colombia
Heliconia carajaensis Pará
Heliconia caribaea (Heliconiaceae).jpg Heliconia caribaea West Indies
Heliconia carmelae Colombia
015 chartaceae.jpg Heliconia chartacea N South America
Heliconia chrysocraspeda Colombia
013 clinophila.jpg Heliconia clinophila Costa Rica, Panama
Starr-090617-1016-plant-Heliconia sp-possibly colgantea or nutans with rostrata flowers-Haiku (9211500945).jpg Heliconia colgantea Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia collinsiana BotGardBln271207E.jpg Heliconia collinsiana S Mexico, Central America
Heliconia combinata Colombia
Heliconia cordata Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia crassa Guatemala
Heliconia cristata Panama
Heliconia cucullata Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia longa (14674280947).jpg Heliconia curtispatha Colombia, Ecuador, Central America
Heliconia danielsiana (9712592684).jpg Heliconia danielsiana Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia darienensis Colombia, Panama
Heliconia dasyantha Suriname, French Guiana
Heliconia densiflora Fireflash 1zz.jpg Heliconia densiflora Trinidad, N South America
Heliconia dielsiana NW South America
Heliconia donstonea Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia episcopalis - Flickr - Alejandro Bayer (1).jpg Heliconia episcopalis South America
Heliconia estherae Colombia
Heliconia estiletioides Colombia
Heliconia excelsa Napo
Heliconia velloziana.jpg Heliconia farinosa SE Brazil, NE Argentina
Heliconia faunorum Panama
Heliconia fernandezii Antioquia, Colombia
Heliconia × flabellata Ecuador
Heliconia foreroi (14918909485).jpg Heliconia foreroi Colombia
Heliconia fragilis Colombia
Heliconia fredberryana Imbabura
Heliconia fugax Peru
Heliconia gaiboriana Los Ríos
Heliconia gigantea Colombia
Heliconia gloriosa (9712500413).jpg Heliconia gloriosa Peru
Heliconia gracilis Costa Rica
002 griggsiana.jpg Heliconia griggsiana Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia harlingii Ecuador
Heliconia hirsuta (9709354435).jpg Heliconia hirsuta Central + South America, Trinidad
Heliconia holmquistiana Colombia
Heliconia huilensis Colombia
Heliconia ignescens Costa Rica, Panama
Flickr - ggallice - Infloresence.jpg Heliconia imbricata Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Heliconia impudica (Heliconiaceae) (29856107273).jpg Heliconia impudica Ecuador
Heliconia indica Papuasia, Maluku
Heliconia intermedia Colombia
Heliconia irrasa 1.jpg Heliconia irrasa Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua
Heliconia julianii (9712499043).jpg Heliconia julianii N South America
Heliconia juruana Ecuador, Peru, NW Brazil
Heliconia kautzkiana Espírito Santo
Heliconia lanata Solomon Islands
Heliconia lankesteri Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia lasiorachis Colombia, Peru, NW Brazil
Platanillo (Heliconia latispatha) (14485478090).jpg Heliconia latispatha from S Mexico to Peru
Heliconia laufao Samoa
Heliconia laxa Colombia
Heliconia lentiginosa Antioquia
Heliconia librata S Mexico, Central America
Starr 980529-4212 Heliconia lingulata.jpg Heliconia lingulata Peru, Bolivia
Heliconia litana Imbabura
Heliconia longiflora - <a href=Colombia, Ecuador, Central America.jpg" decoding="async" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Heliconia_longiflora_-_Colombia%2C_Ecuador%2C_Central_America.jpg/180px-Heliconia_longiflora_-_Colombia%2C_Ecuador%2C_Central_America.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Heliconia_longiflora_-_Colombia%2C_Ecuador%2C_Central_America.jpg/240px-Heliconia_longiflora_-_Colombia%2C_Ecuador%2C_Central_America.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2592" data-file-height="3872" height="179" width="120" /> Heliconia longiflora Colombia, Ecuador, Central America
Heliconia longissima 2.jpg Heliconia longissima Colombia
Heliconia lophocarpa Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia lourteigiae South America
021 lozanoi.jpg Heliconia lozanoi Colombia
Heliconia luciae B Amazonas
Heliconia lutea Panama
Heliconia luteoviridis Colombia
Heliconia lutheri Ecuador
Heliconia maculata Panama
Heliconia magnifica Panama
Heliconia × mantenensis Minas Gerais
Heliconia marginata N South America, S Central America
Heliconia mariae, the Firecracker Heliconia (9709353075).jpg Heliconia mariae NW South America, Central America
Heliconia markiana Ecuador
Heliconia marthiasiae S Mexico, Central America
Heliconia meridensis Colombia, Venezuela
Heliconia metallica.jpg Heliconia metallica N South America, Central America
Heliconia monteverdensis Costa Rica
Heliconia mooreana Guerrero
Heliconia mucilagina Colombia
Heliconia mucronata Venezuela, NW Brazil
Heliconia mutisiana (9712591868).jpg Heliconia mutisiana Colombia
Heliconia nariniensis Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia necrobracteata Panama
Heliconia × nickeriensis Suriname, French Guiana
Heliconia nigripraefixa Colombia, Ecuador, Panama
Heliconia nitida Colombia
Heliconia nubigena Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia nutans Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia obscura Ecuador, Peru
Heliconia obscuroides Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Heliconia oleosa Colombia
Heliconia orthotricha (9715730216).jpg Heliconia ortotricha Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Heliconia osaensis Colombia, Central America
Heliconia paka Fiji
Heliconia paludigena Ecuador
Heliconia papuana New Guinea
Heliconia pardoi Ecuador
Heliconia pastazae Ecuador
Heliconia peckenpaughii Napo
Heliconia pendula Guiana, Fr Guiana, NE Brazil
Heliconia penduloides Peru
Heliconia peteriana Ecuador
Heliconia × plagiotropa Ecuador
Heliconia platystachys-- False Lobster Claw (29194479864).jpg Heliconia platystachys NW South America, S Central America
Heliconia pogonantha (inflorescense).jpg Heliconia pogonantha NW South America, S Central America
Heliconia pruinosa Peru
Heliconia pseudoaemygdiana Rio de Janeiro
Heliconia - Platanillo (Heliconia psittacorum Andromeda) (14667117794).jpg Heliconia psittacorum N South America, Panama, Trinidad
Heliconia ramonensis Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia rauliniana (14732361487).jpg Heliconia × rauliniana Venezuela
Heliconia regalis Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia reptans Colombia
Heliconia reticulata NW South America, S Central America
Heliconia revoluta Colombia, Venezuela, NW Brazil
Heliconia rhodantha Colombia
Heliconia richardiana NE South America
Heliconia rigida Colombia
Heliconia riopalenquensis Ecuador
Heliconia rivularis São Paulo, Brazil
Heliconia robertoi Colombia
Heliconia robusta Peru, Bolivia
Heliconia rodriguensis 0zz.jpg Heliconia rodriguensis Venezuela
Heliconia rodriguezii Costa Rica
Heliconia Rostrata 0003.jpg Heliconia rostrata Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Heliconia samperiana Colombia
Heliconia sanctae-martae Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Heliconia sanctae-theresae Antioquia
Heliconia santaremensis Pará
Heliconia sarapiquensis.JPG Heliconia sarapiquensis Costa Rica, Panama
019 scarlatina.jpg Heliconia scarlatina Colombia, Panama, Peru
Heliconia schiedeana, the Parrot's Beak Heliconia (9712500831).jpg Heliconia schiedeana Mexico
Heliconia schumanniana (Heliconiaceae) (29637192780).jpg Heliconia schumanniana Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, N Brazil
Heliconia sclerotricha Ecuador
Heliconia secunda Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Heliconia sessilis Panama
Heliconia signa-hispanica Colombia
Heliconia solomonensis Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago
Heliconia spathocircinata South America, Panama, Trinidad
Heliconia spiralis Colombia
Heliconia spissa S Mexico, Central America
Junio 2013 837.jpg Heliconia standleyi Ecuador, Peru
Heliconia stella-maris Colombia
Heliconia stilesii 1.jpg Heliconia stilesii Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia stricta (9712499425).jpg Heliconia stricta N South America
Heliconia subulata 4zz.jpg Heliconia subulata South America
Heliconia tacarcunae Panama
Heliconia talamancana kz1.jpg Heliconia talamancana Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia tandayapensis Ecuador
Heliconia tenebrosa Colombia, NE Peru, NW Brazil
Heliconia terciopela Colombia
Heliconia thomasiana (14732346647).jpg Heliconia thomasiana Panama
Heliconia timothei NE Peru, NW Brazil
Heliconia titanum Colombia
Heliconia tortuosa 0zz.jpg Heliconia tortuosa S Mexico, Central America
Heliconia trichocarpa Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Heliconia tridentata Colombia
Heliconia triflora B Amazonas
Heliconia umbrophila Costa Rica
Heliconia uxpanapensis Veracruz
Heliconia vaginalis Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia vellerigera2.jpg Heliconia vellerigera Ecuador, Peru
Nabalu Sabah Heliconia-01.jpg Heliconia velutina Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, NW Brazil
Heliconia venusta (14277360816).jpg Heliconia venusta Colombia, Ecuador
Heliconia villosa Venezuela
Heliconia virginalis Ecuador
Heliconia wagneriana 7zz.jpg Heliconia wagneriana Central America, N South America, Trinidad
Heliconia willisiana Pichincha
Heliconia wilsonii Costa Rica, Panama
Heliconia xanthovillosa-IMG 0702.JPG Heliconia xanthovillosa Panama
Heliconia zebrina Peru

Distribution and habitat

Most of the 194 known species[3] are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku.[2] Many species of Heliconia are found in the tropical forests of these regions. Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia and Thailand.[5]
Ecology

Heliconias are an important food source for forest hummingbirds, especially the hermits (Phathornithinae), some of which – such as the rufous-breasted hermit (Glaucis hirsuta) – also use the plant for nesting. The Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) also lives in tents it makes from heliconia leaves.
Bats
Pollination

Although Heliconia are almost exclusively pollinated by hummingbirds, some bat pollination has been found to occur. Heliconia solomonensis is pollinated by the macroglosine bat (Melonycteris woodfordi) in the Solomon Islands. Heliconia solomonensis has green inflorescences and flowers that open at night, which is typical of bat pollinated plants. The macroglosine bat is the only known nocturnal pollinator of Heliconia solomonensis.[14]
Habitat

Many bats use Heliconia leaves for shelter. The Honduran white bat, Ectohylla alba, utilizes five species of Heliconia to make diurnal tent-shaped roosts. The bat cuts the side veins of the leaf extending from the midrib, causing the leaf to fold like a tent. This structure provides the bat with shelter from rain, sun, and predators. In addition, the stems of the Heliconia leaves are not strong enough to carry the weight of typical bat predators, so shaking of the leaf alerts roosting bats to presence of predators.[15] The bats Artibeus anderseni and A. phaeotis form tents from the leaves of Heliconia in the same manner as the Honduran white bat.[16] The neotropical disk-winged bat, Thyroptera tricolor, has suction disks on the wrists which allow it to cling to the smooth surfaces of the Heliconia leaves. This bat roosts head-up in the rolled young leaves of Heliconia plants.[17]
Insects

Heliconias provide shelter for a diverse range of insects within their young rolled leaves and water-filled floral bracts. Insects that inhabit the rolled leaves often feed upon the inner surfaces of the leaf, such as beetles of the family Chrysomelidae. In bracts containing small amounts of water, fly larvae and beetles are the dominant inhabitants. In bracts with greater quantities of water the typical inhabitants are mosquito larva. Insects living in the bracts often feed on the bract tissue, nectar of the flower, flower parts, other insects, microorganisms, or detritus in the water contained in the bract (Siefert 1982). Almost all species of Hispini beetles that use rolled leaves are obligate herbivores of plants of the order of Zingiberales, which includes Heliconia. These beetles live in and feed from the rolled leaf, the stems, the inflorescences, or the unfurled mature leaves of the Heliconia plant. In addition, these beetles deposit their eggs on the leaf surface, petioles of immature leaves, or in the bracts of the Heliconia.[18] Furthermore, some wasp species such as Polistes erythrocephalus build their nest on the protected underside of large leaves.[19]
Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are the main pollinators of heliconia flowers in many locations. The concurrent diversification of hummingbird-pollinated taxa in the order Zingiberales and the hummingbird family (Trochilidae: Phaethorninae) starting 18 million years ago supports the idea that these radiations have influenced one another through evolutionary time.[20][21] At La Selva Research Station in Costa Rica, specific species of Heliconia were found to have specific hummingbird pollinators.[22] These hummingbirds can be organized into two different groups: hermits and non-hermits. Hermits are the subfamily Phaethornithinae, consisting of the genera Anopetia, Eutoxeres, Glaucis, Phaethornis, Ramphodon, and Threnetes.[23] Non-hermits are a catch-all group of other hummingbirds that often visit heliconias, comprising several clades (McGuire 2008). Hermits are generally traplining foragers; that is, individuals visit a repeated circuit of high-reward flowers instead of holding fixed territories[22][24] Non-hermits are territorial over their Heliconia clumps, causing greater self-pollination.[22] Hermits tend to have long curved bills while non-hermits tend to possess short straight bills, a morphological difference that likely spurred the divergence of these groups in the Miocene era.[25][26] Characteristics of Heliconia flowers that select for either hermit or non-hermit pollinator specificity are degree of self-compatibility, flowering phenology, nectar production, color, and shape of flower.[27][28][25] The hummingbird itself will choose the plants its feeds from on the basis of its beak shape, its perch on the plant, and its territory choice.[29]

Hummingbird visits to the Heliconia flower do not affect its production of nectar.[30] This may account for the flowers not having a consistent amount of nectar produced from flower to flower.

Different Heliconia species have different flowering seasons. This suggests that the species compete for pollinators. Many species of Heliconia, even the newly colonized species, are visited by many different pollinators.[31]
Cultivation

Several cultivars and hybrids have been selected for garden planting, including:

H. psittacorum × H. spathocircinata, both species of South America, mainly Brazil
H. × rauliniana = H. marginata (Venezuela) × H. bihai (Brazil)
H. chartacea cv. 'Sexy Pink'

Most commonly grown landscape Heliconia species include H. augusta, H. bihai, H. brasiliensis, H. caribaea, H. latispatha, H. pendula, H. psittacorum, H. rostrata, H. schiediana, and H. wagneriana.
Uses

Heliconias are grown for the florist's trade and as landscape plants. These plants do not grow well in cold, dry conditions. They are very drought intolerant, but can endure some soil flooding. Heliconias need an abundance of water, sunlight, and soils that are rich in humus in order to grow well. These flowers are grown in tropical regions all over the world as ornamental plants.[32] The flower of H. psittacorum (parrot heliconia) is especially distinctive, its greenish-yellow flowers with black spots and red bracts reminiscent of the bright plumage of parrots.
Heliconia in Lagos, Nigeria
Gallery

Heliconia rostrata in a botanical garden, Costa Rica

Heliconia wagneriana in Florida

Heliconia sp. in tropical rain forest at Sierra del Escambray, Cuba

Heliconia sp. in tropical rain forest at Sierra del Escambray, Cuba
Heliconia stricta (Dwarf Jamaican) leaf at a nursery on Maui

See also

National Tropical Botanical Garden, designated a conservation center by the Heliconia Society International

References

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x.
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Christenhusz, M. J. M.; Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. Magnolia Press. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1.
"Helliconia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
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Bibliography

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