''Heliconia rostrata'', the hanging lobster claw or false bird of paradise, is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

native to

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and naturalized in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It is found in tropical rainforests, as it thrives in warm and humid environments.The inflorescences of many other heliconias grow vertically, facing upwards (e.g. '' Heliconia bihai''), their cup-shaped bracts storing water for birds and insects. This plant, however, has pendulous inflorescences with the bracts facing downwards, the flowers nestled underneath. Without the collection of rainwater in the bracts, the flowers within them provide a source of undiluted

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

.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. Heliconias are known to those who grow them as a host flower to many birds, especially

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

s. Because of its unique characteristics, it is often used as a specimen for tropical gardens and is commonly found in landscaped areas within humid and tropical regions. Along with the cantuta flower, ''Heliconia rostrata'', known as ''patujú'', is the national flower of

Gallery

File:Heliconia_rostrata_with_ants_01.jpg File:Heliconia_rostrata_with_ants_02.jpg File:Heliconia_rostrata_close_up.jpg File:Heliconia_rostrata_close_up_with_ants.jpg File:Heliconia rostrata in Malaysia.jpg File:Lobster claws flower at peak season at the campus of Ramakrishna Mission Shikshanamandira.jpg

References

External links

Heliconia rostrata observations on iNaturalist

rostrata Rostratus (masculine), rostrata (feminine) or rostratum (neuter) is a Latin adjective meaning "beaked, curved, hooked, with a crooked point, or with a curved front". In marine warfare, the term ''beak'' (''rostrum'') referred to the ram bows on wa ...

Flora of Bolivia Flora of Peru Flora of Colombia Flora of Puerto Rico Flora of Ecuador Garden plants Plants described in 1802 National symbols of Bolivia Flora without expected TNC conservation status Symbols of Rondônia Taxa named by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez Taxa named by Hipólito Ruiz López {{Zingiberales-stub

Gallery

See also

References

External links