Heliconia section Longae W. J. Kress, 2025

1.5. 7. Heliconia section Longae W. J. Kress , sect. nov.

Figs 5 E – H View Figure 5

Type.

Heliconia longa (Griggs) Winkler.

Description and taxonomic notes.

Medium- to large-sized rhizomatous herbs with Musa - like habit. Inflorescence generally pendent or occasionally erect, with peduncle, rachis and cincinnal bracts almost always red to rarely yellow; cincinnal bracts distichous or slowly spirally arranged, congested or widely separated. Flowers with diurnal anthesis, not resupinate and fully enclosed in bracts; perianth generally with medium-sized tube, uniformly curved to c-shaped to rarely s-shaped, yellow to white to rarely pink or red, glabrous to hairy; ovary white to yellow to red, generally glabrous. Fruits blue, glabrous. Section Longae is the second largest group of species with pendent inflorescences next to sect. Colubrosae . Species in this section have previously been informally included in the H. pogonantha , H. longa , and H. grigssiana groups by Andersson (1992) and scattered among seven unpublished sections (Arcuatae, Barbatae, Dromedarius, Obscurae , Longae, and Retiformes) by Kress et al. (1999). Three species in sect. Longae have erect inflorescences (formerly in the unpublished section Complanatae ). One of these species, H. brenneri Abalo & Morales , was included in subgen. Heliconiopsis sect. Perplexae according to the genomic data, but is morphologically similar to the other two species with erect inflorescences in sect. Longae ( H. foreroi Abalo & Morales and H. attratensis Abalo & Morales ) sharing red, distichous cincinnal bracts, and non-resupinate flowers and is placed in this section. Tissue was not available for many of the species with pendent inflorescence in the current phylogenomic analyses and future investigations may shuffle some of these species between sect. Longae and sect. Colubrosae . Section Longae is closely allied by 0.9 LPP support to the other three sections in subgen. Heliconia characterized by pendent inflorescences (sects. Griggsia , Episcopales , and Pastazae ).

Species.

+ Heliconia arrecta W. J. Kress & J. Betancur ; * H. atratensis Abalo & Morales ; * H. berguidoi R. Flores, C. Black & A. Ibáñez ; * H. brenneri Abalo & Morales †; * H. carmelae Abalo & Morales ; * H. curtispatha Peters. ; * H. danielsiana W. J. Kress ; + H. donstonea W. J. Kress & J. Betancur ; * H. excelsa L. Anderss. ; + H. foreroi Abalo & Morales ; * H. fragilis Abalo & Morales ; * H. harlingii L. Anderss. ; + H. holmquistiana Abalo & Morales ; * H. longa (Griggs) Winkler ; + H. lutheri W. J. Kress ; * H. magnifica W. J. Kress ; * H. mariae Hook. f. ; + H. markiana Abalo & Morales ; * H. nigripraefixa Dodson & Gentry ; + H. paludigena Abalo & Morales ; * H. pogonantha Cuf. ; * H. ramonensis Daniels & Stiles ; + H. regalis L. Anderss. ; * H. rhodantha Abalo & Morales ; + H. samperiana W. J. Kress & J. Betancur ; + H. sanctae-theresae Abalo & Morales ; * H. spiralis Abalo & Morales ; + H. stella-maris Abalo & Morales ; * H. stilesii W. J. Kress ; * H. terciopela W. J. Kress & J. Betancur ; * H. vellerigera Poepp. ; * H. xanthovillosa W. J. Kress .

Distribution.

Tropical Central America and South America ( Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela).