Heliconia chartacea
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| Heliconia chartacea | ||||||||||||||
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 Specimen at Asa Wright Nature Centre, Arima, Trinidad & Tobago
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| Heliconia chartacea L. |
Heliconia chartacea is a species of Heliconia native to the American tropics, mainly Guiana and Brazil. It is a common upland species of disturbed sites, young secondary forest, and abandoned cultivation, and is often found near human habitation.
It is a herbaceous plant, with paired large oblong leaves like those of its relative the banana. It can grow to 7-8 m in height, and plants can form large clumps with age.
The flowering stems are pendulous. The bright pink color of the flower bracts is rare among heliconias, making it very easy to identify. The conspicuous pink part of the large and showy hanging inflorescences is actually the waxy bracts, (modified leaves), with the small green true flowers half-hidden inside. It is pollinated by hermit hummingbirds, whose curved beaks are well adapted to probe the curved flowers for nectar, their main food source. Some species such as the Rufous-breasted Hermit also use the plant for nesting.
It has blue-black fruits that contain 3 very hard seeds, which are capable of extended dormancy in the soil. The fruits are eaten by a variety of birds, including tanagers and thrushes.
Several cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including 'Sexy Pink' and 'Sexy Scarlet'.
