Heliconia platystachys

Native from Costa Rica through Panama to Colombia and Venezuela, it is a large perennial herb that grows from underground rhizomes in wet tropical habitats. It can reach about sixteen feet tall. Its hanging flower clusters extend to about three feet long, with ten to twenty red bracts edged by yellow keels and green-tinted tips. The central axis bends between successive bracts, which shelter yellow to golden flowers. A pale, waxy coating covers the stems, and the broad leaves split as they age. The species is cultivated as an ornamental in tropical gardens. Photographed in the central Andes mountain range of Colombia.