Heliconia rostrata

Heliconia rostrata (also known as hanging lobster claw or false bird of paradise) is a herbaceous perennial native to Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, and naturalized in Puerto Rico.[2] Other Heliconias grow in the 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
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 hummingbird. 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.

  • Heliconia rostrata
  • Heliconia rostrata Inflorescence
  • Heliconia rostrata Inflorescence close up
  • Heliconia rostrata Inflorescence in West Bengal, India
  • Grown in Malaysia
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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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