Heliconia 'snake'

Bloom panicles of this heliconia (lobster claw) plant hang vertically. I rotated a photo of one such, so I could crop just the serpentine stem for the banner. This particular panicle had already produced fruit, small yellow green berries that are covered with the same white cilia seen here.



Here's the full shot, but rotated from its original orientation, to match the banner orientation. The original orientation is 90° counterclockwise from this, i.e. the right edge becomes the top edge.

Very nice abstract effect in that banner, curves and fur and everything.

Great Photo . Could you please show the full plant.
Thanks

Really interesting!!!! A great what the heck is that moment.

Interesting banner Elizabeth!

Very cool! Reptilian was what crossed my mind when I saw this banner.

Very interesting and mysterious banner!

CDsSister said:Great Photo . Could you please show the full plant.
Thanks

I looked back over some old photos and found that I seldom photographed more than the inflorescences of this plant. I did find one which shows the middle portion of what is a very tall plant, including some of the hanging 'snakes', stems, and leaves. I hope it gives at least a hint of what kind of plant, overall, this particular heliconia is. There are many different heliconias, and I don't even know whether this one is typical of most of them, or atypical. I've only ever seen three different types of heliconia. This one is Heliconia vellerigera




This plant is located at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Another garden.org member, DaylilySLP has posted photos of the same plant here
Kitty Kat Heliconia (Heliconia vellerigera)

Wonderfully interesting banner, Elizabeth. It just draws one in with a big "what is that?!"

pod said:Very cool! Reptilian was what crossed my mind when I saw this banner.

Yes, me, too!
Very unusual banner, Elizabeth!

Wow, what a banner! At first glance I thought it was something from under a microscope...but then your information and related photos taught me something new. Thank you for steering us into fresh avenues of knowledge.

Thanks for the link as well as the full picture. I guess as a tropical? it is out of my zone. Very interesting. And made me do some research which is a good thing.

I grew this outside in the Marshall Islands. It grew really well there. We got 100 inches of rain a year and had high humidity all year. Florida probably is a good place for it if the occasional freezes don't hit it.

Super banner!

Fabulous!

Whoa! Great banner & interesting plant, Elizabeth!

I tried to ID it from the photo before seeing your title, and
thought it might be some kind of ginger.
Amazing form & details in the image, plus pleasing color scheme.

Heliconia vellerigera is a plant species in the family Heliconiaceae, native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Costa Rica.
It is a large herb up to 6 m (20 feet) tall with a pendulous inflorescence of 20-30 red-orange bracts covered with cinnamon-colored hairs.

-Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
(surprised Wiki didn't have more info)

Pics...
https://images.search.yahoo.co...

How to grow...
https://www.growplants.org/gro...

Details...
https://www.monaconatureencycl...

Hearty thanks to all who contributed to this thread with comments, thumbs, and acorns. I was especially happy that it introduced some to a plant they weren't familiar with.

Thanks @EscondidoCal for the comments and the extra research. I especially liked this article you found. I learned things I didn't yet know about the plant itself, and the meaning behind the genus name and the specific epithet.

Details...
https://www.monaconatureencycl...

Elizabeth!

BTW, the link didn't work....typo? I just copy/pasted.
Here it is again.
https://www.monaconatureencycl...

EscondidoCal said: Elizabeth!

BTW, the link didn't work....typo? I just copy/pasted.
Here it is again.
https://www.monaconatureencycl...

That's odd, because I think I copied and pasted that URL from your initial post, where the link worked fine. I only included it so you'd know which of your three links I was referring to. Kind of a head scratcher. One of life's little mysteries...