Heliconia section Heliconia

1.5. 1. Heliconia section Heliconia

Figs 4 E, F View Figure 4

Description and taxonomic notes.

Generally large-sized rhizomatous herbs with Musa - like habit. Inflorescence erect, with peduncle, rachis and cincinnal bracts of various colors from red to orange to yellow to green, margins often green; cincinnal bracts distichous, congested and usually overlapping. Flowers with diurnal anthesis, not resupinate and fully enclosed in bracts; perianth generally with elongate tube, c-shaped (sharply curved) to s-shaped (sigmoid), hidden within bract with only apex protruding, white with green apex, glabrous; ovary white, glabrous. Fruits blue, glabrous, protruding from bract on elongated pedicel at maturity. Two species were placed in the genomic analyses as basal taxa in the clade including sect. Heliconia . However, morphological features indicate that H. hirsuta L. f. is more properly including in sect. Stenochlamys and H. pendula Wawra in sect Colubrosae . The close relationship among the species in the current sect. Heliconia has long been recognized by all authors. The 1.0 LPP support for this monophyletic group in the molecular analysis confirms this observation.

Species.

* Heliconia aurea Rodríguez ; * H. bihai (L.) L. ; * H. caribaea Lam. ; * H. lennartiana W. J. Kress ; * H. orthotricha L. Anderss. ; * H. rodriguensis Aristeg. ; * H. stricta Huber ; * H. wagneriana O. G. Peters.

Distribution.

Tropical Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean ( Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela).