Heliconiaceae

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Heliconia Family

Heliconia pogonantha Cufod., a giant herb in the Heliconiaceae. The plants grow quite tall, with giant tattered leaves. The veins are even, parallel, and nearly perpendicular to the midrib (leaf detail, actual size). This species has pendant inflorescences (bract shown actual size at right). Una hierba gigantesca con hojas divididas. Las venas son uniformes, paralelas, y casi perpendiculares al eje central (detalle de la hoja, tamaño real). Esta especie tiene inflorescencias péndulas (bráctea, tamaño real, a la derecha).

Description: Heliconiaceae have simple, alternate leaves that are often very large. The leaf veins are perpendicular to the midrib, and the petiole is channeled. The leaves tear easily; plants growing in the wild usually have leaves that are somewhat tattered. The leaf sheath around the stem is often partly open at the top. The inflorescence, borne at the end of the stalk, can be either pendant or upright. The bracts of upright-flowered Heliconiaceae harbor unique communities of insects, snails, and microorganisms, much like the leaf axils of bromeliads, but the species compositions of the assemblages in Heliconia bracts and bromeliad leaf axils are very different (Richardson et al. 2000).

Economic uses: Widely grown as an ornamental.

Descripción: Las Heliconiaceas tienen hojas simples y alternas que muchas veces son de gran tamaño. Las venas son perpendiculares al eje central, y el peciolo es sulcado. Las hojas se rasgan fácilmente y usualmente las plantas en el bosque tienen hojas divididas. La base envolvente de la hoja muchas veces está abierta al extremo. La inflorescencia, siempre al extremo del tallo, puede ser erecta o péndula. Las brácteas de las Heliconiaceas con inflorescencias erectas contienen comunidades de animales (insectos, caracoles, y organismos microscopicos) similares a las que estan presentes en las cuencas axilares de las bromelias; sin embargo, se encuentran especies diferentes en cada tipo de planta (Richardson et al. 2000).

Usos económicos: Se cultivan como ornamental.

Genera/species at La Selva: 1/12. Heliconia.

FIELD MARKS – large leaves similar to those of a banana plant, leaves tear cleanly, upright or pendant inflorescences with large showy bracts.

Heliconia psittacorum is widely cultivated.	Heliconia psittacorum is widely cultivated.
Heliconia with ripening fruit.	Heliconia latispatha is the most common species of Heliconia in Costa Rica.
Heliconia pogonantha with pendant inflorescences.	Heliconia pogonantha with fruit.
Heliconia wagenariana is easily distinguished by the red, yellow, and green bracts.	Heliconia leaf with veins parallel to the midrib.
Showy bract sporting flowers (left) and fruits (right) of Heliconia latispatha.	Showy bract sporting flowers (left) and fruits (right) of Heliconia latispatha.
Comparison of Heliconia (Heliconiaceae) and Calathea (Marantaceae) leaves. Note that the veins are perpendicular to the midrib in Heliconiaceae whereas veins form an acute angle with the midrib and are S-shaped in Marantaceae.	Pendant inflorescence of Heliconia mariae has flowers with a moderately curved corolla that is accessible to hummingbirds with curved (hermits) or straight bills.
The downward curving bracts and long curved corollas of Heliconia pogonantha (left) attract foraging hermit hummingbirds, whereas the upward facing bracts and straight corollas of Heliconia latispatha (right) are visited by straight-billed hummingbirds.	The downward curving bracts and long curved corollas of Heliconia pogonantha (left) attract foraging hermit hummingbirds, whereas the upward facing bracts and straight corollas of Heliconia latispatha (right) are visited by straight-billed hummingbirds.
Heliconia flower and butterfly.	Heliconia imbricata exploits open secondary forest where it forms large clumps and is pollinated by territorial straight-billed hummingbirds.
Heliconia wagneriana with red, yellow, and green bracts and inconspicuous green flowers.

Ecorefs:

• Kress, W. J. 1982. Crossability barriers in neotropical Heliconia. Annals of Botany 52: 131-147.
• Naeem, S. 1990. Patterns of distribution and abundance of competing speicies when resources are heterogeneous. Ecology 71: 1422-1429.
• Stiles, F. G. 1975. Ecology, flowering phenology, and hummingbird pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia speices. Ecology 56: 285-301.
• Richardson, B.A. et al. 2000. Nutrients, diversity, and community structure of two phytotelm systems in a lower montane forest, Puerto Rico. Ecological Entomology 25: 348-356.

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