Inflorescence

The Heliconia caribaea, Red (or Purpurea), our logo flower from the West Indies, produces large, colorful flowers with 5 to 22 waxy bracts in bright red.  The upper bracts may exhibit yellow or green lips towards the tip.  Most people think of the bracts as the bloom, but the true flower are stiff green and white sepals that poke out of the bracts at various points.  This is a pure caribaea, not to be confused with the Richmond Red or Big Red which are hybrids with Heliconia bihai and are much smaller flowers.

Heliconias belong in the plant family Heliconiaceae, within the order of the Zingiberales.

Please review the Zingiberales Planting and Caring page for additional information.