grassroots Horticulture : Lobster-Claws or Toucan Beak

Heliconia, derived from the Greek word Ἑλικώνιος (helikṓnios), is a genus of flowering plants in the Heliconiaceae family. Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, toucan beak, wild plantain, or false bird-of-paradise. The last term refers to their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia).

Lobster-claw, false bird-of-paradise

Bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia)

They are relatives, in the order, Zingiberales:

Cannaceae Juss.
Costaceae Nakai
Heliconiaceae Vines
Lowiaceae Ridl.
Marantaceae R.Br.
Musaceae Juss.
Strelitziaceae Hutch.
Zingiberaceae Martinov

In Art

Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Heliconia, Crab’s Claw Ginger” (1939), "White Bird-of -Paradise" (1939) First exhibited at An American Place, Room 1710, 510 Madison Avenue, New York, after a nine week trip sponsored by F. W. Ayer Co. for Dole Pineapple. Company. Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Collection of Sharon Twigg-Smith.

Credi2018 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Collection of Sharon Twigg-Smith

Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Indonesian Islands including Maluku. Many species of Heliconia are found in the tropical forests of these regions. Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia, and Thailand.