The Heliconiaceae family contains about 200 species of perennial plants mostly found in the tropical forests of South America; a few species are native to islands in the Western Pacific. Depending on species, heliconias range from .5 to 4.5 meters in height. The plant is commonly referred to as lobster-claws or parrot-beaks; the waxy bracts of Heliconia plants resemble a lobster’s claw or a parrot’s beak. The colorful and uniquely shaped flowers are green, orange, red, or yellow and produce ample amounts of nectar to attract humming birds as their primary pollinators. The mature fruit of a heliconia plant is blue in color and covered with a fleshy outer layer; birds serve as the most important distributer of these seeds. The illustrations above are ,from left to right, Heliconia bihai of Northern Brazil, Heliconia dasyantha of Suriname, and Heliconia villosa of Venezuela.
