Expanded Lobsterclaw
Heliconia latispatha Benth.
- light
- —
- water
- —
- tall
- 3.5 m
- wide
- —
Heliconiaceae
Also called Expanded lobsterclaw
Formerly Bihai latispatha, Heliconia aequatoriensis
When it flowers
Flowers all year in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- E. & S. Mexico to NE. Peru and VenezuelaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Height
- 3.5 mRead from Wikipedia and Desert Tropicals, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: Wikipedia 4–4 m; Desert Tropicals 10–10 ft
- Flowers
- Yellow, orange, red, greenRead from Wikipedia, one source
Not known yet: light, spread, water, coldest it survives, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (8)
- Chinese (China)
- 红箭蝎尾蕉, 黄苞蝎尾蕉
- Russian
- Геликония широкообвёртковая
- Lithuanian
- Retažiedis bangminys
- Spanish
- Ave del paraíso, Platanilla
- Portuguese
- helicônia-asa-de-arara
- Chinese
- 紅箭蝎尾蕉, 红鹤蝎尾蕉
- Slovak
- helikónia širokotulcová
- French
- Pince de homard
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Desert Tropicals, read 2026-10-26, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Heliconia latispatha (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.