HELICONIA

Heliconia. the only genus of the family Heliconiaceae, with approximately 120 species in tropical America and the western Pacific. The large perennial herbs have brightly coloured bracts (leaf-shaped structures) and bear numerous flowers. The fruit is bluish. These attractive plants have stout or reedlike stems. The banana-like leaves sometimes show a coppery sheen, and the midrib may be ivory and pink. One colourful species, H. psittacorum, named for its resemblance to a parrot's plumage, has greenish yellow flowers with black spots near the tips and red bracts.