Heliconia bihai aka Macaw Flower

Heliconia bihai belongs to the plant family Heliconiaceae. It is evergreen and lives for more than one year. People call it wild plantain, false plantain, and macaw flower. It comes from northern South America and the Caribbean. Its range takes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas, and northern Brazil. It grows wild, and people also grow it for show. It grows in gardens in the tropics and damp subtropics. Forms of the species differ from place to place.

The plant looks like a banana and grows in clumps. New shoots, called offsets, help the clumps spread. Growers can split these off to make more plants. They can also grow new plants from seed. Useful Tropical Plants gives a height of about 10 feet [3 metres]. The wider range is 1.6 to 16.4 feet [0.5–5 metres]. These figures show how much its reported size can vary. Its leaves stay green and form part of its garden display.

The flowers are small, with green and white parts. Hummingbirds move pollen from flower to flower. Sheaths round the flowers form cups shaped like boats. These cups can hold pools of water where mosquitoes breed. Growers need to bear this in mind. The account gives no bloom season and does not describe fruit. It gives no details on other pests or diseases of this species.

Choose a site with some shade and soil that stays moist. Use rich soil with plenty of humus, or decayed plant matter. The growing account places it in warm, damp regions. It gives no frost limit or hardiness zone. In gardens, people chiefly grow this long-lived, clump-forming plant for show. Growers also use it to shade and shelter young cacao plants. They use parts of the plant as mulch round crops. Local people also use it for food and other materials.

People sometimes eat the young shoots as a vegetable. They have also used the leaves to make roofs. Some have proposed using the plant's fibre to make paper. In folk medicine, people use the roots as an astringent, to tighten tissue. They also use them as a diuretic, to increase urine flow. One record notes use of a leaf infusion during childbirth. These are old practices, not tested health advice. Useful Tropical Plants reports no known hazards for this species. This does not mean that every way of preparing or using it is safe.