Heliconiaceae FAMILY

Heliconia bihai

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial

Growth—

A plant of the humid tropics, it can also be grown in humid subtropical areas^[1]. Requires a moist, fertile, humus-rich soil and a semi-shady position^[1]. The flower sheaths are boat-shaped and often hold water. This often becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes^[2].

Propagation

Seed - Division of offsets. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Heliconia+bihai>

Pollinators

Hummingbirds

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]The Useful and Ornamental Plants of Trinidad and Tobago. — Williams. R. O. & Williams. R. O. Jnr. · Self Published in Trinidad and Tobago. · 1951 ↩︎Terse details of a wide range of plants both native and introduced to Trinidad and Tobago. Gives a brief description of the plant and some of its local uses.
[3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[4]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region