How to Grow Heliconia (Lobster Claw) Indoors
| Botanical Name | Heliconia spp. |
| Bloom Time | Spring and summer |
| Flower Color | Red, pink, yellow, orange, or green (var ... |
| Hardines Zones | 9–11 (USDA); often grown as a houseplant |
| Native Area |
Where do Heliconia flowers come from?
Some species of heliconia have upright facing flowers, and in some called hanging heliconia, the flowers dangle down from the main stem. Heliconias are found throughout the Neotropics and are actually quite common in the rainforest.
What are the leaves of Heliconia called?
Heliconia. The leaves of this plant are paddle-shaped, and they are related to the banana family. Heliconias are sometimes called "lobster claws" or "parrot flowers" because of their beak-like "bracts" which can be orange, purple, red, yellow, pink, green or a combination of these. A bract is a leaf structure at the base of a flower.
What is the meaning of the name Heliconia?
Name meaning: Heliconia is named after Mount Helicon, a mountain in southern Greece that is known in Greek mythology to be the home of the Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts. The common name “False Bird of Paradise” comes from its similarity to the Bird of Paradise flowers (Strelitzia).
What do heliconias look like?
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.
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What is special about the Heliconia flower?
The heliconia's flowers are tiny and found inside these bracts, which are so large and colorful that they almost hide the flowers altogether. This keeps the flower's sweet nectar tucked away so that only specialized birds can get to it.
What is another name for Heliconia?
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).
Where is the Heliconia flower found?
The majority of Heliconia species are native to tropical Central and South America; however, several species are found on islands in the West Pacific. Heliconias thrive in tropical conditions and habitats that have an abundance of water, sunlight, and rich soil.
Is a bird of paradise a Heliconia?
Heliconia are also known as False Bird of Paradise and Wild Plantains because their leaves are similar to the leaves of the Bird of Paradise and banana plants.
What Colour is heliconia?
The flowers themselves can be red, orange, yellow, or green and are usually pollinated by hummingbirds. The fruits are blue to blue-purple when ripe.
Is Ginger a heliconia?
Heliconia is a genus of about 200 species known for its quintessentially tropical inflorescences and large, exotic green leaves. Blooms are incredibly colourful and often pollinated by hummingbirds. Gingers are a family, Zingiberaceae, with about 1.300 species and some are well-known ornamentals, spices and medicines.
Who eats the Heliconia flower?
To this end, Heliconia flowers produce considerable quantities of nectar, the high energy food so essential to hummingbirds, which need to consume up to three times their bodyweight in a single day, just to be able to continue patrolling the individual territories across which they forage.
What does a Heliconia look like?
The heliconia leaves look similar to some types of banana trees, with flower bracts emerging from the plant like a bunch of bananas. Flowers range in shape, size and color depending upon the Heliconia variety. Heliconia fanciers often refer to the flower shapes as lobster claw, parrot's beak or pleated fan.
Is Heliconia a banana?
In Central America heliconias are often called wild bananas. Bananas are currently in a different, but related, plant family and are from Southeast Asia (blog post on bananas) while the heliconias are native to tropical America, but the similarity of the huge leaves is easy to see.
What is the difference between heliconia and bird of paradise?
There are no major differences other than the classification of the plant and the distribution. Bird of paradise does well in zones 10-12, however, heliconia is primarily dominant in Florida- specifically the southwestern area.
Is heliconia indoor plant?
Heliconias are not ideal houseplants—they tend toward being large specimens with enormous leaves—and are only magnificent during their flowering period....How to Grow Heliconia (Lobster Claw) Indoors.Common NameHeliconia, lobster claw, false bird-of-paradisePlant TypeTropical perennial1 more row•May 15, 2022
How long does it take for a heliconia to flower?
Growing speed-heliconias are fairly quick growers if given plenty of good rich soil and fertilizer. Most of the larger species will take 12-24 months to flower when grown from a rhizome. The smaller psittacorum types will usually flower within 6-12 months when grown from rhizomes.
What are the characteristics of a Heliconia flower?
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.
What are the pollinators of heliconias?
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. At La Selva Research Station in Costa Rica, specific species of Heliconia were found to have specific hummingbird pollinators. 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. 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 Non-hermits are territorial over their Heliconia clumps, causing greater self-pollination. 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. 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. 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.
What do insects eat in heliconias?
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. Furthermore, some wasp species such as Polistes erythrocephalus build their nest on the protected underside of large leaves.
What bats form tents from the leaves of Heliconia?
The bats Artibeus anderseni and A. phaeotis form tents from the leaves of Heliconia in the same manner as the Honduran white bat. 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.
What is a heliconiopsis?
Heliconia psittacorum. Heliconia, derived from the Greek word Ἑλικώνιος ( helikṓnios), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae.
What is the name of the 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".
Where are parrot heliconias grown?
These flowers are grown in tropical regions all over the world as ornamental plants. 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.
Is Heliconia poisonous?
Euphorbia genus The sap from these common plants can cause severe pain and injury to the eyes. Also known as spurge and milkweed, this genus includes Poinsettia, a popular Christmas plant. These are commonly found toxic plants.
Is Heliconia toxic?
Heliconia is also referred to as red ginger. It is a mildly toxic plant to cats. All plants should be kept away from cats as any of them can be toxic and some can actually kill a cat.
Is bird of paradise a Heliconia?
Heliconia, derived from the Greek word ?λικώνιος (helik?nios), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, toucan beak, wild plantains or false bird-of-paradise.
How do I make my heliconia bloom?
Heliconia Care They need fertilizing in spring for best flowering and again every two months until fall. Cut back spent flowers and leaves as they occur. If you want more of these lovely plants in your garden, dig up the rhizome and cut behind recent growth.
Is Ginger a Heliconia?
The bracts of heliconias, usually red and yellow, are upright in some species and pendant in others. They range in size from 18 inches to over 12 feet tall. Gingers have a much wider range of colours and many of the blooms, particularly the red ones, are truly flamboyant.
How does Heliconia reproduce?
Reproduction. Its interesting to observe that heliconia's are considered as geophyte, which means that they reproduce not only with their seeds, but also by their underground organs, which its main function is to serve as a storage for nutrients and water, therefore making sure of the species survival.
Why do heliconias live in rainforests?
Heliconias are found throughout the Neotropics and are actually quite common in the rainforest. The heliconia, like the bromeliad, can also be home to other living things. Water collects in the bracts of the straight stems, which provides a habitat for many species of tiny aquatic organisms.
What is the flowering stem of a heliconia?
The flowering stems are mostly pendulous. A bract is a leaf structure at the base of a flower. Heliconia flowers are produced on long, erect or drooping panicles, and consist of brightly colored waxy bracts, with small true flowers inside the bracts. Bracts which can be orange, purple, red, yellow, pink, green, or their combinations.
What is a heliconia?
Heliconias are grown for their beautiful, brilliant colorful flowering bracts. Breathtaking and unusual flower heads (bracts) rise from clumps of banana like leaves, sometimes very large or slender.
How long does it take for a heliconia to grow?
The eyes or buds, present in the Heliconia rhizome helps to grow new shoots in about four weeks, while roots grow from the rhizome. Heliconias need an abundance of water. Since Heliconias are heavy feeders, a soluble balanced or granular time-release fertilizer can be used.
What is the most colorful flower?
HELICONIA. HELICONIA. Heliconias are one of the most colorful and beautiful flowers, the colors of which are an important source of attraction for the forest hummingbirds, pollinating the flowers. Heliconia, also popularly known as lobster-claw, wild plantain or false bird-of-paradise, is a beautiful flower with multi-color bracts ...
Why do heliconias hide flowers?
The Heliconia's bracts are so large and colorful that they almost hide the flowers altogether. This keeps the flower's sweet nectar from other birds so that only specialized birds can get to it.
Which flowers have upright facing flowers?
There are some species of Heliconia which have upright facing flowers.
Where are heliconias native to?
Heliconias are native to the tropical Americas and the Pacific Ocean islands west to Indonesia. Heliconia, formerly included in the family Musaceae, is now the only genus under Heliconiaceae.
Where are the flowers of Heliconia?
The heliconia's flowers are tiny and found inside these bracts, which are so large and colorful that they almost hide the flowers altogether. This keeps the flower's sweet nectar tucked away so that only specialized birds can get to it.
What are the leaves of a heliconia called?
The leaves of this plant are paddle-shaped, and they are related to the banana family. Heliconias are sometimes called "lobster claws" or "parrot flowers" because of their beak-like "bracts" which can be orange, purple, red, yellow, pink, green or a combination of these.
What is the habitat of heliconia?
The heliconia, like the bromeliad, can also be home to other living things. Water collects in the bracts of the straight stems, which provides a habitat for many species of tiny aquatic organisms. Many other animals depend on the heliconia as well.
What Is a Heliconia Flower?
Belonging to the Heliconiaceae family, heliconia are herbaceous, flowering plants native to the tropical Americas (Central America and South America) as well as the tropical regions of the US. Common names for the plants include heliconia, lobster claw, parrot’s beak, and false bird-of-paradise. The growing season spans spring, summer, and fall.
4 Types of Heliconia Flowers
There are nearly 200 species belonging to the genus Heliconia —many naturally occurring and others cultivated for vivid colors and shape. The tropical plants range greatly in height and color. Most are grown outdoors in tropical climates, while some varieties are grown and harvested by commercial growers for use by florists in flower arrangements.
What color are the flowers in a Florida garden?
The blooms are typically red, yellow, or orange spikes , and make wonderful cut flowers.
Can heliconias be grown in the sun?
Heliconias should be grown in full sun or part shade in well-drained soil. They're not drought- or salt-tolerant, but will take moist soils. Heliconias can be used as specimen plants or massed together in groups. Plants will die back after a frost, but new shoots will regenerate once it warms back up.
What is a heliconia?
Heliconias are one of the most showy, distinctively tropical flowers with beautiful, brilliant colorful flowering bracts. There is only a single genus ( Heliconia) in the family Heliconiaceae, with about 200 species.
What is the peduncle of a heliconia?
Pendent heliconias hang down with bracts pointed toward the ground. The inflorescence is made up of the peduncle (the part of the stem between the terminal leaf sheath and the basal bract), inflorescence bracts (also know as spathes), the rachis connecting adjacent bracts, and a coil of flowers within each bract.
What bird is on the heliconia bract?
A hermit at Heliconia rostrata (L), male green-crowned brilliant perched on heliconia bract while feeding (LC), rufus-tailed hummingbird at H. caribaea (C) and at H. rostrata (RC), and black-cowled oriole at heliconia flower (R).
Why are heliconias important to birds?
Some of the hermits also use the plant for nesting, attaching their elongated nests to a strip of leaf torn away from the blade so that the leaf provides an overhang for the nest.
What attracts hummingbirds to flowers?
The flashy colors of the bracts attract the hummingbirds that pollinate the flowers. The flowers come in a variety of lengths and shapes, which correspond to the length and shape of the bill of their pollinator. Curved flowers are adapted to pollination by hermits which have long, curved bills.
How tall can a rhizomatous plant grow?
These are medium to large plants, often with extensive rhizomatous growth, that can be up to 30 feet tall and may form large clumps.
How tall does a heliconia grow?
Tropical gardeners are lucky to get some of the most fascinating flowering plants to grow. Heliconia is in a group of plants that may grow up to 15 feet (4.5 m.) tall in nature but likely only to 3 to 6 feet (1-2 m.) in a home landscape. They are not at all frost hardy, and therefore not suited for growing outdoors ...
What is the best soil for heliconia?
Slightly acidic soil is best. Plants grown in alkaline soil may exhibit iron deficiency in the form of yellowing to white leaves. The plant is moderately drought tolerant but best results will ensue with consistent moisture. Ideal Heliconia growing conditions are humid and warm, similar to a tropical rainforest.
Where does Heliconia lobster claw grow?
Heliconia lobster claw is also called parrot flower and has inconsequential tiny flowers covered by the showy bracts. It is native to Central to South America and is hardy in the United States in USDA plant growing zones 10 to 13. What follows is some fun and interesting Heliconia plant info, care and growing facts.
What is lobster claw plant?
Lobster claw plant ( Heliconia rostrata) is no exception, with large, brightly hued bracts that cluster up a stem. Heliconia lobster claw is also called parrot flower and has inconsequential tiny flowers covered by the showy bracts.
What is a heliconia plant?
Heliconia is a beautiful, exotic looking plant with multi-color bracts and tiny, hidden flowers, some of which you can see peeking out from the upper bracts. The showy colored structures we call “flowers” are actually modified leaves, called bracts, which contain the small true flowers inside them. Heliconia is so unique ...
What is the meaning of the name Heliconia?
Name meaning: Heliconia is named after Mount Helicon, a mountain in southern Greece that is known in Greek mythology to be the home of the Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts. The common name “False Bird of Paradise” comes from its similarity to the Bird of Paradise flowers (Strelitzia).
Where is Heliconia native to?
(Lobster Claw; False Bird of Paradise) Heliconia is a genus of about 200 species in the family Heliconiaceae, native to the tropical Americas, with some species occurring in the Pacific Ocean.
Is Heliconia a genus?
Heliconia is the sole genus in the family Heliconiaceae. This genus was formerly classified in the family Musaceae and it’s most closely related to the gingers, bananas and their relatives.
Overview
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.
Although Heliconia are almost exclusively pollinated by hummingbirds, some bat pollination ha…
Description
These herbaceous plants range from 0.5 to nearly 4.5 m (1.5–15 ft) tall, depending on the species. 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 pa…
Distribution and habitat
Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku. 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.
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'
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. The flower of H. …
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
See also
• National Tropical Botanical Garden, designated a conservation center by the Heliconia Society International