Heliconia collinsiana | endemiccostarica

The False Bird of Paradise is a flourishing plant deriving from the Heliconiacaea family. They normally sprout to around 10-15ft (3-4.5m).
- The False Bird of Paradise is a popular ornamental plant well known in many hot regions and humid climate areas.
The fruit sprouting from this special plant is unique. It begins as a yellow fruit sprouting from the flower and then slowly begins to change to a light purple.
- The plant itself contains long, large leaves resembling banana leaves, cardaom and ginger.
- Their flowers are beautiful, long, bright red flowers that last for many months.

False Bird of Paradise - Heliconia collinsiana

Characteristically the stems and underface of the leaves are covered with a white wax, protecting these flowers from invasive pests. With this wax, the False Bird of Paradise protects itself from being taken advantage of, and harmed by its predators.
- This wax coating dissapears when handled. Thist just shows the importance of observing, instead of touching when people visit the rainforest of Costa Rica
These plants have adapted to survive mostly in the shade. The benefit of this is that living in the understory of the rainforest, where there isn't much sun, the Falso Bird of Paradise can still survive.

It is kind of evident these plants appear shiny, which is because of the wax covering

These plants have a "hardiness of 10" which means it can survive and withstand temperatures with a minimum of 40 degrees
The leaves are extremely sturdy, thier flower lasts all season long (May to Novermber) or until weather begins to drop drastically at hight, they aren't invasive in the garden either. These are a few of the main reasons why the False Bird of Paradise is one of the most popular plant appearing in gardens especially in Florida.
In Costa Rica, the hummingbird is a main polinater of the False Bird of Paradise

To the left is the False Bird of Paridise sprouting in a Florida garden