Genus: Heliconia

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Zingiberales > Family: Heliconiaceae

One genus (Heliconia) containing anything from 100 to 200 species (mainly tropical America, a few in Southeast Asia and the Pacific). About five species of Heliconia have been recorded as being cultivated in southern Africa.

Species cultivated in southern Africa

List from Glen (2002).

Heliconia angusta Native to Brazil.
Heliconia aurantiaca Native from Mexico to Costa Rica.
Heliconia braziliensis Native to Brazil.
Heliconia psittacorum Native from Colombia to Brazil.
Heliconia rostrata Native to Peru and Ecuador.

Publications

• Archer, C. 2003. Strelitziaceae. In Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds), Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14: 1212. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.