Heliconia tortuosa explained

Heliconia tortuosa is an herbaceous tropical perennial commonly found in secondary succession in montane forests in Central America and southern Mexico (Chiapas and Tabasco).^[1] It is moderately shade tolerant. It has also been widely cultivated as a garden plant for its showy, usually twisted (hence the name tortuosa) inflorescences.^{[2] [3]}

Heliconia tortuosa is selective with its pollination, allowing only green hermit and violet sabrewing hummingbirds to pollinate its flowers.^[4]

External links

• Heliconia tortuosa observations on iNaturalist

Notes and References

1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=248635 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Heliconia tortuosa
2. Andersson, L. 1992. Revision of Heliconia subgen. Taeniostrobus and subgen. Heliconia (Musaceae-Heliconioideae). Opera Botanica 111: 1–98.
3. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/713407#page/755/mode/1up Griggs, Robert Fiske. 1903. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 30(12): 650, t. 29, f. 1. Heliconia tortuosa
4. Pollinator recognition by a keystone tropical plant. Betts, Matthew G.. Hadley, Adam S.. Kress, W. John. amp. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 10 February 2015. 10.1073/pnas.1419522112. 112. 11. 3433–3438. 4371984. 25733902. 2015PNAS..112.3433B. free.