Taxon Details: Heliconia latispatha Benth.
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Family:
Heliconiaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Heliconiaceae (Magnoliophyta)
Scientific Name:
Heliconia latispatha Benth.
Heliconia latispatha Benth.
Primary Citation:
Bot. Voy. Sulphur 170-171. 1846
Bot. Voy. Sulphur 170-171. 1846
Accepted Name:
This name is currently accepted.
This name is currently accepted.
Common Names:
expanded lobsterclaw, platanilla
expanded lobsterclaw, platanilla
Description:
Author : John Kress, Xavier Cornejo & Reinaldo Aguilar.
Description: Robust musoid plant 1.5-4 m tall. Leaf sheath glabrous or very sparsely and inconspicuously arachnoid, often purplish-spotted; petioles 10-65 cm long, glabrous or rarely sparsely arachnoid; blades (25-)50-150 x 12-31 cm, sparsely to rather densely arachnoid on midrib abaxially. Inflorescences erect, twisted, (15-)20-40 cm long with (3-)5-13 spathes, the spathe angle (45-)65-90º; axis glabrous or sparsely to moderately arachnoid, green to yellowish green; spathes 11-29(-36) x 1.8-2.8/(9-)11-31 x 1.8-2.8/11-19 x 1.5-2.5 cm, yellowish or greenish yellow over orange to red, usually shading from yellowish at base to reddish towards tips, in some cases known to change color with age, glabrous outside, or sparsely arachnoid, glabrous inside; bracteoles 2.3-3.5 cm long, membranous, dissolving in fruit, glabrous; pedicels 0.4-0.6 cm long, not or only slightly elongated in fruit, glabrous. Flowers ± semiexposed at anthesis; ovary 5-9.1 x 3.6-5 mm; perianth 34-51 mm long, straight, markedly gibbous on ventral side at base, yellow or orange yellow with sepal margins and petal tips green glabrous or rarely (mainly in Venezuela) ± distinctly arachnoid on ventral sepals, the tube 4.4-8.5 mm, the ventral sepals much shorter than the petals; staminode markedly shouldered with a coarse prominent cusp, 3.9-8.4 x 3.5-5.7 mm. Fruits 10-13 x 8-9 mm. Pyrenes 7.5-11 x 4.5-6 mm (Andersson, 1985).
Common names: Platanilla, platanillo (Spanish), wild plantain (English; Gargiullo, 2008).
Distribution: Mexico to Peru from sea level to 1500 m.
Ecology: In seasonally dry, moist, and wet forests. It is found frequently along road sides and forest edges, growing in full sun to half shade.
Phenology: This species has been observed with flowers throughout the year.
Pollination: The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds. The rufous-tailed hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl has been reported as one of the principal pollinators of this species (Zuchowski, 2005).
Dispersal: Data from La Selva indicates that 28 species of birds have been seen eating the fruits of this species (Zuchowski, 2005).
Taxonomic notes: The bracts exibit some color variation ranging from yellowish to red. Few cultivated varieties have been named (for some additional information about the varieties see comments under this species in: http://www.fairchildgarden.org/index.cfmsection=livingcollections&subsection=collections&page=heliconiadescriptions).
Conservation: This is a colonizer in disturbed habitats, not endangered.
Uses: Widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Etymology: The epithet refers to the wide spathes.
Author : John Kress, Xavier Cornejo & Reinaldo Aguilar.
Description: Robust musoid plant 1.5-4 m tall. Leaf sheath glabrous or very sparsely and inconspicuously arachnoid, often purplish-spotted; petioles 10-65 cm long, glabrous or rarely sparsely arachnoid; blades (25-)50-150 x 12-31 cm, sparsely to rather densely arachnoid on midrib abaxially. Inflorescences erect, twisted, (15-)20-40 cm long with (3-)5-13 spathes, the spathe angle (45-)65-90º; axis glabrous or sparsely to moderately arachnoid, green to yellowish green; spathes 11-29(-36) x 1.8-2.8/(9-)11-31 x 1.8-2.8/11-19 x 1.5-2.5 cm, yellowish or greenish yellow over orange to red, usually shading from yellowish at base to reddish towards tips, in some cases known to change color with age, glabrous outside, or sparsely arachnoid, glabrous inside; bracteoles 2.3-3.5 cm long, membranous, dissolving in fruit, glabrous; pedicels 0.4-0.6 cm long, not or only slightly elongated in fruit, glabrous. Flowers ± semiexposed at anthesis; ovary 5-9.1 x 3.6-5 mm; perianth 34-51 mm long, straight, markedly gibbous on ventral side at base, yellow or orange yellow with sepal margins and petal tips green glabrous or rarely (mainly in Venezuela) ± distinctly arachnoid on ventral sepals, the tube 4.4-8.5 mm, the ventral sepals much shorter than the petals; staminode markedly shouldered with a coarse prominent cusp, 3.9-8.4 x 3.5-5.7 mm. Fruits 10-13 x 8-9 mm. Pyrenes 7.5-11 x 4.5-6 mm (Andersson, 1985).
Common names: Platanilla, platanillo (Spanish), wild plantain (English; Gargiullo, 2008).
Distribution: Mexico to Peru from sea level to 1500 m.
Ecology: In seasonally dry, moist, and wet forests. It is found frequently along road sides and forest edges, growing in full sun to half shade.
Phenology: This species has been observed with flowers throughout the year.
Pollination: The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds. The rufous-tailed hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl has been reported as one of the principal pollinators of this species (Zuchowski, 2005).
Dispersal: Data from La Selva indicates that 28 species of birds have been seen eating the fruits of this species (Zuchowski, 2005).
Taxonomic notes: The bracts exibit some color variation ranging from yellowish to red. Few cultivated varieties have been named (for some additional information about the varieties see comments under this species in: http://www.fairchildgarden.org/index.cfmsection=livingcollections&subsection=collections&page=heliconiadescriptions).
Conservation: This is a colonizer in disturbed habitats, not endangered.
Uses: Widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Etymology: The epithet refers to the wide spathes.
Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):
Heliconia latispatha Benth.: [Article] Smith, Lyman B. & Schubert, Bernice G. 1952. Plants collected in Ecuador by W. H. Camp. Begoniaceae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 8 (1): 36-40.
Heliconia latispatha Benth.: [Article] Smith, Lyman B. & Schubert, Bernice G. 1952. Plants collected in Ecuador by W. H. Camp. Begoniaceae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 8 (1): 36-40.
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