Lobster claw
ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯ ಜಡೆഹെലികോണിയ റോസ്ട്രേറ്റঝুলন্ত চিংড়ি
Heliconia rostrata Ruiz & Pav.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 1.7 m
- wide
- 1.4 m
Heliconiaceae
Also called Hanging Lobster Claw Heliconia, False bird of paradise
Formerly Bihai poeppigiana, Bihai rostrata, Heliconia poeppigiana
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
- W. South AmericaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from UF/IFAS, not yet checkedOne source. Checker: UF/IFAS page does not state full, part: gives part shade/part sun only
- Height
- 1.5 m to 1.8 mRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Spread
- 91 cm to 1.8 mRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Flowers
- Yellow, redRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -1.1 °C (USDA zone 10a)Read from UF/IFAS, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Lorito, Heliconia, flor del patujú
- Russian
- Геликония ростральная
- Portuguese
- Caetê
- Chinese
- 金鳥赫蕉 (垂花赫蕉), 金嘴蝎尾蕉
- German
- Hängende Hummerschere
- Chinese (China)
- 金嘴蝎尾蕉
- French
- Héliconia rostré
- Indonesian
- Pisang Pisangan
- Polish
- helikonia dziobata
- Lithuanian
- Snapuotasis bangminys
- Thai
- ก้ามกุ้งช่อห้อย
- Czech
- Helikónie zobanitá
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Heliconia rostrata (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.