What are Heliconia spissa Griggs cv. Mexico Red, Heliconia schiedeana, and Heliconia hirsuta?

1. Heliconia spissa Griggs cv. Mexico Red, an upright-inflorescence species in the family Heliconiaceae, order Zingiberales.

(1) Morphological characteristics: a perennial evergreen clumping herbaceous plant. Plant height 1.5-2.5 m. Leaf blades split into segments along the midrib. Inflorescence terminal, upright; inflorescence axis red to pink; bracts 5-7, red to pink, the distal end of the lower bracts green; sepals yellow with green tips; pedicels yellow-green; ovary green. Flowering period February to September.

(2) Growth habits: native to southern Mexico, Florida in the United States, Costa Rica and other places. It prefers a warm, humid climate with ample light, and needs to grow in full sun or 30% shade. However, shade is needed in summer to prevent direct sunlight from scorching the leaves.

2. Heliconia schiedeana Klotzsch, an upright-inflorescence species in the family Heliconiaceae, order Zingiberales.

(1) Morphological characteristics: a perennial evergreen clumping herbaceous plant. Plant height 1-2.5 m. Leaves narrowly oblong, with long petioles. Inflorescence terminal, upright; inflorescence axis red; bracts 7-10, red; sepals yellow with green tips, bending at almost a right angle; pedicels pale green to yellow; ovary green. Flowering period December to August of the following year.

(2) Growth habits: native to southern Mexico, Florida, Hawaii and California in the United States, Costa Rica and other places. It prefers a warm, humid climate with ample light, and needs to grow in full sun or 30% shade. However, shade is needed in summer to prevent direct sunlight from scorching the leaves.

3. Heliconia hirsuta L. f. cv. Darrell., an upright-inflorescence species in the family Heliconiaceae, order Zingiberales.

(1) Morphological characteristics: a representative species of the ginger-type heliconias. A perennial evergreen clumping herbaceous plant. Plant height 1-3 m, stem diameter 1-2.5 cm, green. Leaves ginger-like, lanceolate, 25-30 cm long, 7.5-10 cm wide, leaf margins greenish brown, thinly leathery, smooth; leaf sheaths reddish brown; petioles very short or absent in some cultivars. Inflorescence terminal, upright, small; inflorescence green, slightly curved; boat-shaped bracts 14-18, yellow-green at the base and purplish red from the middle to the tip, each bract containing 5-6 flowers. Flowers tubular; sepals yellow with green distal ends; pedicels green with a white powdery coating. Flowering period May to October.

(2) Growth habits: native to the United States, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador and other places. It prefers a warm, humid climate with ample light, and can be cultivated in full sun to 50% shade.