Plant Family: Belongs to the Heliconiaceae or Heliconia family, which includes the Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia caribaea) and the Firebird Heliconia (H. stricta). Heliconia flowers are much loved by humming birds.

Description: Large, handsome shrub, 2-3 m tall (6-10 ft) to tips of leaves, flowering all year; rhizome creeping and branching underground; very large, oblong, attractive leaves, paddle-shaped with long leaf-stalk wrapped around stem, and leaf blades 40 cm wide (16 in) and more than 1 m long (40 in); inflorescences are terminal, 30 - 60 cm long (12 - 24 in) on unbranched shoots, large and pendulous; flowers brightly colored, red with greenish yellow edges and ends, 15-20 cm long (6-8 in), arise alternately on stem, consist of large bracts with actual flower parts inside, not unlike a banana flower in structure; fruit a blue berry.

Natural Habitat: Tropics at lower elevations, growing best in partial shade; propagated by offsets or rhizome parts, or merely replanting divided clumps.

Origin and Distribution: Native to Tropical America; discontinuously distributed in tropics and subtropics; Heliconias are particularly popular in Puerto Rico where a wealth of different cultivars have been developed. [The link will take you to page 6 (H. rostrata) of several pages of photos of exquisite Heliconia cultivars.]

Uses: Popular ornamental in gardens and yards; inflorescence is long-lasting, up to several weeks, and is popular for home and commercial floral arrangements.

References:
G.W. Lennox and S.A. Seddon. Flowers of the Caribbean. Macmillan, London 1978
C.D. Adams. Flowering Plants of Jamaica. University of the West Indies, Mona, Glasgow University Press 1972
Edward F. Gilman and Alan Meerow. Heliconia rostrata. Univ. of Florida Extension Service. Gainsville, Florida 1999
Robert A. DeFilipps. Useful Plants of the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1998 References: