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Information about Heliconia

Heliconia
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Heliconia latispatha

Heliconia latispatha
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Liliopsida
Subclass:Commelinidae
Order:Zingiberales
Family:Heliconiaceae
Genus:Heliconia
L.
Species


See text.


Heliconia is a genus of about 100 to 200 species of flowering plants native to the tropical Americas and the Pacific Ocean islands west to Indonesia. It is the sole genus of family Heliconiacae, but was formerly included in the family Musaceae. Common names for the genus include lobster-claw, wild plantain and false bird-of-paradise. The last term refers to their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia).

The leaves are 15-300 cm long , oblong, growing opposite one another on non-woody petioles often longer than the leaf, often forming large clumps with age. Their flowers are produced on long, erect or drooping panicles, and consist of brightly colored waxy bracts, with small true flowers peeping out from the bracts. The growth habit of heliconias is similar to Canna, Strelitzia, and bananas, to which they are related.

Heliconias are an important food source for forest hummingbirds, especially the hermits some of which, such as the Rufous-breasted Hermit, also use the plant for nesting. The Honduran white bat also lives in tents it makes from the plant's leaves.

Selected species

Cultivation

Heliconias are grown for the florist's trade and as landscape plants. The flower of H. psittacorum (Parrot Heliconia), is especially distinctive, for its greenish-yellow flowers and black spots bear a remarkable resemblance to the bright plumage of parrots.

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'

Gallery




Heliconia chartacea cv. 'Sexy Pink' in Northern Range, Trinidad

Heliconia latispatha in Belize

Heliconia latispatha flower

Heliconia mariae in Hawaii

Heliconia rostrata, in a botanical garden, Costa Rica

Heliconia wagneriana, 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

External links

Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]

Divisions

Green algae
  • Chlorophyta
  • Charophyta
Land plants (embryophytes)
  • Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)

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Magnoliophyta

Classes

Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Liliopsida is a botanical name for the class containing the family Liliaceae (or Lily Family). It is considered synonymous (or nearly synonymous) with the name monocotyledon. Publication of the name is credited to Scopoli (in 1760): see author citation (botany).
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Commelinidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. of the subclass will vary with the being used (there are many such systems); the only requirement being that it includes the family Commelinaceae.
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Zingiberales
Griseb.

Families
See text

Zingiberales is an order of flowering plants. The order has been widely recognised by the taxonomists, at least for the past few decades.
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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Magnoliophyta

Classes

Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean


The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum
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Motto
"Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"   (Old Javanese)
"Unity in Diversity"
National ideology: Pancasila[1]
Anthem
Indonesia Raya
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Musaceae
Juss.

     Musaceae distribution


Genera

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    Strelitzia
    Ait.

    Species
    See text

    Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, native to South Africa. The genus is named after the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, birthplace of Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom.
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    leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat (laminar) and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast (chlorenchyma tissue, a type of parenchyma) to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate
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    panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers (and fruit) attached along the secondary branches (in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes).
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    Cannaceae

    Genus: Canna

    Species
    19 classified species, see list below

    Canna (or Canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants.
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    Strelitzia
    Ait.

    Species
    See text

    Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, native to South Africa. The genus is named after the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, birthplace of Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom.
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    BANANA (an acronym of Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything or possibly Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone
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    Trochilidae
    Vigors, 1825

    Subfamilies

    Phaethornithinae
    Trochilinae

    For a taxonomic list of genera, see:
    • List of hummingbirds in taxonomic order
    For an alphabetic species list, see:
    • Alphabetic species list



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    Phaethornithinae
    Jardine, 1833

    Genera

    Ramphodon
    Eutoxeres
    Glaucis
    Threnetes
    Anopetia
    Phaethornis

    The Hermits are tropical and subtropical hummingbirds in the subfamily
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    G. hirsuta

    Binomial name
    Glaucis hirsuta
    (Gmelin, 1788)

    The Rufous-breasted Hermit or Hairy Hermit, Glaucis hirsuta
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    Ectophylla

    Species: E. alba

    Binomial name
    Ectophylla alba
    (Allen, 1892)

    The Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    H. acuminata

    Binomial name
    Heliconia acuminata
    Rich.

    Heliconia acuminata (syn.: Heliconia pearcei Rusby) of Heliconiaceae family is an erect herb typically growing 1.
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    H. angusta

    Binomial name
    Heliconia angusta

    Heliconia angusta Vell. (syn.: Heliconia agustifolia Hook., Heliconia bicolor Benth., Heliconia brasiliensis Hook.
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    H. angusta

    Binomial name
    Heliconia angusta

    Heliconia angusta Vell. (syn.: Heliconia agustifolia Hook., Heliconia bicolor Benth., Heliconia brasiliensis Hook.
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    H. bihai

    Binomial name
    Heliconia bihai
    (L.) L.

    Heliconia bihai (Lobster claw, Red palulu; syn. Bihai bihai Griggs, Heliconia aurea R.Rodr.
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    H. berryi

    Binomial name
    Heliconia berryi
    Abalo & G.L.Morales

    Heliconia berryi is a species of plant in the Heliconiaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.
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