Heliconia

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Heliconia
Hybrid Heliconia psittacorum × Heliconia spathocircinata

Hybrid Heliconia psittacorum × Heliconia spathocircinata

Systematics
Class : Bedecktsamer (Angiospermae)
Monocotyledonous (monocots)
Commelinids
Order : Gingery (Zingiberales)
Family : Heliconia plants
Genre : Heliconia
Scientific name of the  family
Heliconiaceae
Nakai
Scientific name of the  genus
Heliconia
L.

Heliconia ( Heliconia ), also called lobster claws or false bird of paradise flowers, are the only genus of the Heliconia family (Heliconiaceae) in the order of the ginger-like (Zingiberales). The genus includes 100 to 225 species , including some ornamental plants. The name is derived from the Greek mountain Helikon , the seat of the muses , probably because the inflorescences are so decorative.

description

Appearance and leaves

Heliconia species grow as large, evergreen , perennial herbaceous plants . They usually form short-branched, rarely runners-forming rhizomes that store starch. Usually only an unbranched "pseudostem" is formed, which emerges from the overlapping leaf sheaths. The aboveground parts of the plant are often hairy.

The foliage leaves , mostly alternate and two-lined, arranged only at the base or also distributed on the stem, branch off parallel from the median nerve and are differentiated into leaf sheath, petiole and leaf blade; in some species no petiole is recognizable.

Inflorescences and flowers

At the end of each "pseudostem" a very large, decorative, racemose entire inflorescence is formed, which is composed of several monochasic zymous , few to many-flowered partial inflorescences . There are types with hanging and those with upright inflorescences. The most attractive are the flashy colored spoon-shaped bracts (bracts), which can be up to 2 meters long. There are keeled cover sheets.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold. All six bracts are fused tubular at their base. The three sepals and two petals are still fused above this flower tube. A petal is also free at the base. There are five fertile stamens and a scaly staminodium per flower . The fertile stamens are fused with the basal tube. Three carpels have become an under constant ovary grown into an ovule per ovary chamber. There are septal nectaries . The elongated, thin style ends in a cephalic or three- or rarely two-lobed stigma. The flowers of the bird-pollinated species are very rich in nectar and sometimes fragrant. The species pollinated by bats only bloom at night and do not smell; they usually have green bracts and green or white bracts.

The flower formula is:

Fruits and seeds

The blue when ripe, red or orange stone fruits contain only one to three seeds each. There is thin, oily and starchy endosperm that also contains aleurones .

Chromosome sets and ingredients

Data on chromosome sets are only available for some of the species; which mostly have 2n = 24.

All parts of the plant contain tannin .

ecology

Heliconias are pollinated by a wide range of animals ( zoogamy ), most of which are birds . Hummingbirds pollinate all Neotropical species, honey-eaters many of the species found in Polynesia . This is shown by both the colors of the bracts and the abundant production of nectar . Some mammals are also involved in pollination, especially long-tongue flying dogs in the most westerly species of Heliconia. The Pacific rat ( Rattus exulans ) also visits the flowers - but in the bird-flowered species without pollinating them.

The diaspores are the stone fruit, they are eaten by animals and the seeds are excreted undigested and thus spread; they are mostly birds.

Subgenus Heliconia , Section Heliconia : Scarlet Lobster Claw (
Heliconia bihai )
Subgenus Heliconia , Heliconia section : Heliconia bourgaeana
Subgenus Heliconia , section Heliconia : Banana-leaved lobster claw ( Heliconia stricta )
Subgenus Heliconia , section Heliconia : Tri-colored lobster claw ( Heliconia wagneriana )
Subgenus Heliconia , section Tortex : Heliconia irrasa
Subgenus Heliconia , section Tortex : Heliconia latispatha
Subgenus Heliconia , section Tortex : Heliconia tortuosa
Subgenus Taeniostrobus : Heliconia imbricata
Subgenus Stenochlamys , Lanea section : Heliconia burleana
Subgenus Stenochlamys , Lanea section : Heliconia lingulata
Subgenus Stenochlamys , section Stenochlamys : Heliconia angusta
Subgenus Stenochlamys , section Stenochlamys : Parrot lobster claw ( Heliconia psittacorum )
Subgenus Stenochlamys , Lasia section : Heliconia velutina
Subgenus Stenochlamys , Section Zingiberastrum : Heliconia aurantiaca
Subgenus Stenochlamys , Section Zingiberastrum : Heliconia longiflora
Subgenus Griggsia , section Barbatae : Heliconia pogonantha
Subgenus Griggsia , section Barbatae : Heliconia vellerigera
Subgenus Griggsia , Longae section : Heliconia mariae
Subgenus Griggsia , Longae section : Heliconia stilesii
Subgenus Griggsia ,
Rostratae section : hanging lobster claw ( Heliconia rostrata )
Subgenus Griggsia , Pendulae section : Heliconia chartacea
Subgenus Griggsia , Pendulae section : Heliconia collinsiana

Development history, distribution and locations

The development of the Helikoniaceae within the Zingiberales took place relatively late and is dated to about 32 million years ago. The common ancestors of the Helikoniaceae, Strelitziaceae , Lowiaceae are dated to about 109 million years ago. Since this group originated in the Neotropic, the oceanic Heliconia species can only have got there through recent remote spreading.

The Heliconiaceae family has a disjoint area . Most species occur in the Neotropic . Some species are native to Oceania , islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean, Melanesia from Samoa to Sulawesi .

Many species thrive in the lowland rainforest below an altitude of 500 meters. The greatest number of species thrives at medium altitudes in rain or cloud forests. Only a few species are found at altitudes above 2000 meters. Specimens are most often found at ruderal locations, for example along railway lines, and they are often pioneer plants after logging, or they are found on river banks. But many species are dependent on shady locations in primary forests; Unfortunately, these species are often locally endemic and threatened with extinction if the forests are destroyed during logging.

Systematics and distribution of the species

The genus Heliconia was established by Carl von Linné in 1771 . Type species is Heliconia bihai (L.) L. The genus name Heliconia is derived from the Helikon Mountains in southern Greece, which was considered the home of the Muses . Synonyms for Heliconia L. are: Bihai Mill. , Heliconiopsis Miq.

The Heliconiaceae (A.Richard) Nakai family was first published by Takenoshin Nakai in 1941 . In the past the genus Heliconia was incorporated into the families of the Strelitziaceae or Musaceae .

The genus Heliconia is divided by Kress (1984, 1990, 1994) and Andersson (1981, 1985, 1992) into five sub-genera and about 23 sections. There are around 200 to 225 species of Heliconia (here with their distribution):

Without assignment to a sub-genus or section:

  • Heliconia berguidoi R.Flores, C.Black & A.Ibáñez : The species first described in 2017 occurs in Panama.
  • Heliconia veracruzensis C.Gut.Báez : The species first described in 2016 occurs in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

use

Some species and varieties have been popular exotic ornamental plants since the 18th century . Some varieties are also popular as long-lasting cut flowers . There are a number of varieties.

They hardly serve as food, budding inflorescences are rarely eaten cooked when food is scarce. Sometimes the large leaves (similar to banana leaves) serve as a coating when cooking food.

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literature

  • W. John Kress, Alan T. Whittemore: ( Heliconiaceae. Same text online as printed work ), In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in part), and Zingiberidae , Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0-19-513729-9
  • W. John Kress, Chelsea D. Specht: The evolutionary and biogeographic origin and diversification on the tropical monocot or Zingiberales . In: JT Columbus, EA Friar, JM Porter, LMPrince, MG Simpson (Eds.): Monocots: Comparative Biology and Evolution. Excluding poales . In: Aliso , Volume 22, 2006, pp. 621-632. doi: 10.5642 / aliso.20062201.49
  • WS Judd, CS Campbell, EA Kellogg, PF Stevens, MJ Donoghue: Zingiberales . In: Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach . 3rd edition, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts 2007, pp. 301 f., ISBN 978-0-87893-407-2 .
  • W. John Kress, February 6, 2008: Flora Mesoamericana , Volume 7, 1, Heliconiaceae. , Pp. 1-33. Full text PDF published from the Flora Mesoamericana website , March 1, 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. Cheers, Gordon: Botanica: the ABC of plants; 10,000 species in text and images . Könemann, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-89731-900-4 .
  2. ^ Louise B. Pedersen, W. John Kress: Pollination of Old World Heliconia. In: Bulletin of the Heliconia Society International , Volume 10, 1–2, 2000, p. 3 ( PDF ( Memento of the original dated August 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check Original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heliconia.org
  3. ^ A b W. John Kress & Chelsea D. Specht: The evolutionary and biogeographic origin and diversification on the tropical monocot or Zingiberales . In: JT Columbus, EA Friar, JM Porter, LMPrince & MG Simpson (Eds.): Monocots: Comparative Biology and Evolution. Excluding poales . In: Aliso 22, 2006, pp. 621–632, Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, Claremont, California ( PDF ( Memento of the original dated June 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / epmb.berkeley.edu
  4. ^ A b Heliconia at the Department of Botany of the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institute , Washington DC
  5. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Heliconia. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  6. ^ Heliconia at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed February 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Heliconia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  8. Heliconiaceae systematics online (PDF; 105 kB). In: Heliconia at the Department of Botany of the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institute , Washington DC
  9. ^ W. John Kress, February 6, 2008: Flora Mesoamericana , Volume 7, 1, Heliconiaceae. , Pp. 1-33. Full text PDF published from the Flora Mesoamericana website , March 1, 2012.

Web links

Commons : Heliconia ( Heliconia )  - collection of images, videos and audio files

further reading

  • L. Isaza, ML Marulanda, AM López: Genetic diversity and molecular characterization of several Heliconia species in Colombia. In: Genetics and Molecular Research , Volume 11, Issue 4, November, 2012 pp. 4552-4563. doi: 10.4238 / 2012 November 12.9 full text PDF.