1. R. PERUMAL
2016603110
M.Sc., Floriculture & Landscaping

2. Botanical Name : Heliconia spp. (hel-I-KO-nee-a)
Family : Heliconiaceae
Order: Zingiberales
COMMON NAMES: Lobster claw, False bird-of-
paradise, Parrot flower
 Native to Central and South America

3. Fun Facts
MEANING “Heliconia” refers to Mount Helicon in Greece, home to the
muses, goddesses of the arts and sciences in greek mythology. The muses
were said to be eternally young and beautiful, thus the name “heliconia”
refers to the flowers’ long-lasting and attractive qualities.
 The large boat-shaped bracts often hold water that serves as a breeding
place for mosquitoes.

4. Importance
Cut flower
Landscape
Potted plants
Interior landscape
Leaf thatching
Food wrappers
Roots, seeds of certain varieties are used for medicinal purposes

5. Botany
 Heliconias derive their beauty from highly
modified leaves or bracts.
 Colour varies from pink, red, orange, yellow
and different combinations.
 The stalk length range from 0.5 to 3.0 m, and
inflorescence size from 10 to 50 cm.
 Depend on variety heliconias will range in
height from two to twenty feet, often with
extensive rhizomatous growth.

6.  In heliconia thread like structures connects the pollen grains.
 Heliconias are found to be diploid with 2n = 24 chromosomes
 Triploid (2n = 3x = 36) cultivars also found to exist
 Heliconias are the only genus in the Heliconiaceae family. The genus has
about 200 to 250 species and many cultivars.
 Heliconias were once grouped in the Musaceae (banana) family and the
Strelitziaceae (bird-of paradise) family, giving it one of its common
names, “false bird-of-paradise.”

7. Flowers are bisexual
Open few hours in morning
Style long
Inferior Ovary
Stamens: 6 (1 –sterile)
Stigma is receptive: 4 hrs after opening

8. Erect heliconias are
stand straight with
bracts pointing up
Pendent heliconias hang
with bracts pointing down
Inflorescence

10. Inflorescence Types
1. Inflorescence erect and in one plane
2. Inflorescence erect and in more than one plane
3. Inflorescence pendant and in one plane
4. Inflorescence pendant and in more than one plane
(Robert Roy Smith's, 1968)

11. Inflorescence erect and in one
plane
Heliconia aurantiaca Orange bracts, yellow flowers
H. aureo striata Green and yellow bracts,
variegated leaves
H. bourgaeana Rose-colored spathe with green
margins
H. caribaea Large yellow bracts
H. humilis Largered bracts
H. psittacorum Rosy-red bracts, conspicuous
orange flowers
H. wagneriana Bracts with red base, yellow
streak on top

12. Inflorescence erect and in more than
one plane
Heliconia metallica Small green to yellow
bracts
H. latispatha Large orange bracts

13. Inflorescence pendant and in one
plane
Heliconia rostrata Rose-colored bracts
with green tips
H. catheta Red triangle at base of
bracts, green tips

14. Inflorescence pendant and in more
than one plane
Heliconia collinsiana var.
velutina
Red triangle toward base
of bracts, yellow tips
H. collinsiana var.
collinsiana
Red bracts covered with
white bloom

15. Pollinator- Humming bird
 They are the only pollinators in heliconia
 Sexual dimorphism in the purple-throated carib (Eulampis jugularis)
MALE FEMALE

16. Green-crowned brilliant hummingbird
on Heliconia stricta

17. Seeds:
The fruit is 1 to 3 seeded Drupe, blue or red to
orange at maturity.
Seed is surronded by stony, roughened endocarp
(Pyrenes), embryo is straight and endosperm
present copiously (Wanger, 1999)

18. Breeding objectives
• Novel colour, form and shape of the inflorescence
• Dwarf statured
• Profuse flowering
• Cultivars suitable for coconut plantations and intercropping
• Pest and disease free
• Varieties suitable for tropical conditions

19. Breeding methods
• Selection
• Interspecific hybridization
• Biotechnological approach

20. Species and cultivars

21. Heliconia stricta
 Colours are ranged from red, gold,
orange, maroon and green singly or in
combination
 These exotic tropicals are ideal for small
arrangements as their inflorescence
range from 5” – 12” long and are not too
heavy

22. 'Carli's Sharonii' Strictly bella Dwarf Jamaican Firebird
Tagami Iris Bannochie
Dorado Gold

23. Heliconia rostrata
 Hanging Lobster Claw
 Pendant inflorescence of alternating bracts
each 6-10 cm long, scarlet red tipped with
cream to yellow
 Downward-facing flowers, the flowers thus
providing a source of nectar to birds

24. Heliconia rostrata cv. Ten Days

25. Heliconia psittacorum
 The psittacorum (or parrot’s beak) heliconias are
small, dainty and exotically tropical and resemble
the plant known commonly as Bird- of- Paradise
 Flower heads appear to be hand painted and
glow with brillant colours and greenish yellow
flowers with black spots near apex and bloom
abundantly all year
 The cultivar Tay proved very productive, while
Andromeda was similar but taller, with more
flower heads

26. Crackerjack Lillian Andromeda
Heliconia psittacorum

27. Petra Pearl Pink Lipstick
Heliconia psittacorum

28. Sassy St. Vincents Red Tangerine
Heliconia psittacorum

29. Heliconia bihai
 Wild plantain/ Fire bird
 Greenish yellow flowers clustered in the axils of
large stiff boat shaped crimson red flattened
bracts with pointed tip and arranged in two ranks
on erect inflorescence

30. Chocolate Dancer Emerald Forest Hong Kong Claw
Heliconia bihai

31. Kawika Manoa Sunrise Yellow Dancer
Heliconia bihai

33. Heliconia latispatha
Erect inflorescence with well seperated boat shaped bracts orange yellow
at the base and red towards tip Greenish flowers
Native to Central and South America

34. Heliconia excelsa
 Bracts are red to burgundy-red with contrasting
yellow sepals.
 A very interesting aspect is the distinctive shape
of the bracts which form a funnel shaped
opening with well developed curved lips.

35. Heliconia angusta
Red Christmas
Orange ChristmasYellow Christmas

36. Heliconia orthotricha
Bengal Eden Pink Garden of Eden

37. Heliconia orthotricha
ImperialTricolor El Tigre

38. Heliconia caribaea cv. Cream
 Bracts are yellow or golden yellow, shading
to cream with greenish tint towards tip and
along keel.
 Leaves are covered with white waxy coating
on the undersides as well as the stems.
 Blooming from April to December.

39. Heliconia vellerigera
 Nursery trade name: King Kong
 Bracts and rachis are red, covered with
cinnamon hairs.
 Sepals deep yellow

40. Heliconia ramonensis var. lanuginosa

41. Heliconia pendula cv. Bright Red

42. Heliconia caribaea

43. Heliconia champneiana

44. Heliconia papsiana

45. Heliconia hirsuta

46. Heliconia bihai × caribaea

47. Heliconia psittacorum × spathocircinata
“Tropics”

48. Heliconia psittacorum x H. spathocircinata cv.
Yellow Parrot

49. Heliconia collinsiana

50. Heliconia wagneriana cv. Turbo

51. Heliconia indica - Foliage types
Heliconia indica cv. Bangkok
Heliconia indica cv. Striata
Heliconia indica cv.
Spectabilis

52. Heliconia metallica
 Mainly grown for its foliage
 Leaves do have a white midrib on upper surface
and are maroon below.
 This plant is "cannoid" which means leaves are
arranged like on Canna a relative of Heliconia.

53. Heliconia mariae
Carla Black’s recipe
Panamanian Indians eat