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Heliconia stricta
Also called Small Lobster Claw
Heliconia stricta, known as Fire Bird or Small Lobster Claw, is a rhizomatous herb from the Heliconia family, grown for its upright red and yellow bracts. It needs warm, humid, bright conditions and a moist, well-drained soil.
Heliconia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Heliconiaceae. It is native to Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, reproducing by seeds and by underground rhizomes. It is reportedly naturalized in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and cultivated as an ornamental in many other warm regions. The young leaves and bracts retain water, forming pools called phytotelmata, which provide habitat for diverse invertebrates.
Some common cultivated varieties are:
False Bird Of Paradise · Christmas Heliconia · Macawflower · Pink Flamingo Heliconia · Platanillo · Heliconia episcopalis · Heliconia hirsuta · Heliconia indica · Expanded lobsterclaw · False bird of paradise · Kitty Kat Heliconia · Heliconias
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Heliconia stricta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
