Heliconia rostrata

Heliconia rostrata, the hanging lobster claw or false bird of paradise, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, and naturalized in Puerto Rico.[2] Other heliconias grow in an upright position (e.g. Heliconia bihai), their cup-shaped flower bracts storing water for birds and insects. This plant, however, has downward-facing flowers, the flowers thus providing a source of nectar to birds.[3][4]

Heliconia rostrata
Lobster claws flower at peak season, Udumalpet, India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Heliconiaceae
Genus: Heliconia
Species:
H. rostrata
Binomial name
Heliconia rostrata
Ruiz & Pavon
Synonyms[1]
  • Bihai poeppigiana (Eichler ex Petersen) Kuntze
  • Bihai rostrata (Ruiz & Pav.) Griggs
  • Heliconia poeppigiana Eichler ex Petersen

Heliconias are known to those who grow them as a host flower to many birds, especially the hummingbirds. Because of its unique characteristics, it is often used as a specimen for tropical gardens.

Along with the Kantuta flower, Heliconia rostrata, known as patujú, is the national flower of Bolivia.

References
  1. The Plant List, Heliconia rostrata
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Heliconia rostrata
  3. Ruiz López, Hipólito & Pavón, José Antonio. 1802. Flora Peruviana, et Chilensis 3: 71, t. 305, Heliconia rostrata
  4. Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. (eds.) 1993. Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
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