By Donna Dawson

These beautiful flowers seem to grow everywhere in Panama. Just drive through the country and you will see them along the sides of the roads, their bright colours most magical in among the sea of green.

Heliconia is in a family all by itself called Heliconiacae and are closely related to bananas and bird of paradise. If you have them you will know that the hummingbirds love them for their sweet nectar that is hidden deep inside the flowers.
 

Named after Mount Helicon - the seat of the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts and sciences in Greek mythology and like their god Apollo - the Muses supposedly remained young and beautiful forever like the long-lasting and elegant flowers of Heliconia.

There are two major divisions in the Heliconia family - the upright and hanging. Twelve species are native to only Panama while about 50 of the 225 species in the world make their home here. The flowers are actually highly modified leaves and bracts (the leaf structure at the base of the true flower) and can be bright orange, red, yellow, pink, green or a combination of colours. Tamals are often wrapped in Heliconia bihai.

Because they stay in such good condition after cutting, they also make a beautiful addition to the floral market and we can enjoy them in our homes for a long time in floral displays.

 

First published in The Visitor