Heliconia metallica

• Botanical Name : Heliconia metallica Planch & Linden ex Hook
• Synonyms : Heliconia nana G. Rodr.
• Common Name : Shining Bird of Paradise
• Plant Family : Musaceae
• Plant Form : Herb
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park

About Heliconia metallica Plant :

• Habit : An attractive herb.
• Leaves :
  • Erect leaves growing upto 2m.
  • Large, broadly lanceolate, upper surface green with reddish midrib and veins, red underneath, petiole red.
• Inflorescence : Glabrous, erect.
• Flower : Bracteate, bracts 5-7 green, glabrous or long-tomentose, pedicel and lower half of ovary white, the upper rim becoming green in fruit.
• Fruit : Truncate, green at apex, white at base, becoming blue at maturity, seeds pyramidal, gray-brown and rough.
• Significance : Ornamental plant.