''Heliconia psittacorum'' (parrot's beak, parakeet flower, parrot's flower, parrot's plantain, false bird-of-paradise) is a perennial herb native to the Caribbean and South America. It is considered native to French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. It is reportedly naturalized in Gambia, Thailand, Puerto Rico,
Hispaniola, Jamaica and the
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...
. It is often cultivated as a tropical
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
in regions outside its native range.
Unlike most species of plants that require the use of pollinators for pollination the H. Psittacorum naturally prefers the absence of pollinators for pollination. In other words, it is well capable of pollinating itself, any use of pollinators can do more harm than good. The flower has both male parts (anthers) and female parts (stigma and pistil), also referred to as a hermaphroditic angiosperm.
[Aristeguieta, Leandro. 1961. El Género ''Heliconia'' en Venezuela no. 16a, ''Heliconia psittacorum'' var. ''rhizomatosa'']
References
External links
Heliconia psittacorum observations on iNaturalistLine drawing of ''Heliconia psittacorum'' for Flora of PanamaPhoto of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, isotype of ''Heliconia psittacorum''
psittacorum
Flora of South America
Plants described in 1782
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