Heliconia indica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Heliconia indica Lamk

Protologue: Encycl. 1: 426 (1783).

Family: Heliconiaceae

Chromosome number: 2n= unknown

Synonyms

Heliconia bihai auct. mult., non (L.) L., H. buccinata Roxb. (1824), Heliconiopsis amboinensis Miq. (1859).

Vernacular names

• Lobster-claw; false bird-of-paradise (En)
• Indonesia: kokin (Ambon), daun meji (Moluccas), eki (central Sulawesi)
• Papua New Guinea: pena.

Origin and geographic distribution

H. indica occurs in South-East Asia and the South Pacific, from the Moluccas through New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. It is cultivated throughout South-East Asia for its leaves or as an ornamental. Ornamental cultivars are also grown in Europe and the United States.

Uses

The leaves of H. indica are used traditionally as platters for food, tablecloths and napkins, for instance in the Moluccas (Indonesia). They are usually replaced after each meal. In the Moluccas they also serve, after being dried and smoothed, as cigarette paper. In Sulawesi (Indonesia) the leaves are used to cook rice, meat and vegetables in, and to wrap up cooked food. The leaves of H. indica are also used for wrapping food in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The pseudostems can be twisted into rough cordage. H. indica is widely planted as an ornamental.

Production and international trade

No production statistics for H. indica are available. As a source of platters, wrapping material and cordage it is used locally and does not enter international trade. H. indica has more commercial importance as an ornamental, but no trade statistics are available.

Adulterations and substitutes

Other leaves used for wrapping include those from Musa spp., Curculigo capitulata (Lour.) Kuntze and C. latifolia Dryand.

Description

A perennial, rhizomatous herb with banana-like habit, up to 8 m tall, forming a dense clump with up to 50 or more leafy shoots. Pseudostem (formed by the leaf sheaths) cylindrical, 100-300 cm × 4-10 cm, green to yellow-brown, sometimes red or grey marbled, glabrous or glaucous. Leaves 4-6 per shoot; petiole 50-140 cm × 1.6-2.9 cm, yellow-green, sometimes red, glabrous or glaucous; blade narrowly elliptical, up to 100-240 cm × 27-60 cm, base attenuate to cordate, margins entire, apex acute, upper surface green, sometimes with red margins, glabrous, midrib green or reddish, lower surface green, glabrous, midrib green to maroon marked with a yellow or red stripe. Inflorescence erect, thyrsiform, up to 60 cm long, composed of 4-14, distichously arranged, spathaceous bracts each with an axillary cincinnate flower cluster; peduncle 0-15 cm × 1-2.6 cm; rachis subflexuose with average internode length 1-4 cm; spathaceous bracts boat-shaped, oriented 60-90to axis of inflorescence, 14-25 cm × 6-9.5 cm, round at base, margins straight to revolute, apex acuminate, outer surface green-yellowish or red at apex and near rachis, inner surface light green (sometimes red), with 10-25 flowers per cincinnus; flowers bisexual, exserted from the spathes with their upper halves only, subtended by acute, keeled, white to yellow-green floral bracts up to 8 cm × 2.5 cm; pedicel 12-35 mm long; perianth white to yellow-green, 5-6.5 cm × 1-1.5 cm, with its 6 segments (calyx and corolla) basally united into a short firm tube 8-10 mm long and the posticous tepal free, reflexed and adhering to the adjacent margins of the 2 other ones; fertile stamens 5, the 6th one reduced to a white staminode 6-12 mm × 5-8 mm and fused to perianth tube 5-10 mm above the base; stamens with anthers connivent inside apex of corolla tube; ovary trigonous, 9-16 mm × 7-12 mm, green, yellow or orange, glabrous. Fruit a red drupe, 1.5-3 cm × 1.3-2 cm. Pyrenes ellipsoid, 10-20 mm × 5-9 mm, rounded to pointed at base and apex, generally without dorsal crest, surface verrucose.

Growth and development

H. indica flowers throughout the year. Flowering is after sunset and pollination may be effectuated by bats, as in H. papuana W.J. Kress and H. solomonensis W.J. Kress. It is not clear whether H. indica is self-compatible, like most Central American Heliconia spp., or self-incompatible, as is probably the case with H. solomoniensis .

Other botanical information

Heliconia L. is primarily a neotropical genus, containing 200-250 species. Heliconia has traditionally been included in a widely circumscribed Musaceae , together with Musa L., Ensete Bruce, Strelitzia Dryand., Ravenala Adans., Phenakospermum Endl. and Orchidantha N.E. Br. Now it is most common to distinguish 4 families: Musaceae ( Musa , Ensete ), Strelitziaceae ( Ravenala , Phenakospermum and Orchidantha ), Heliconiaceae ( Heliconia ) and Lowiaceae ( Orchidantha ). The paleotropical Heliconia plants have sometimes been considered as comprising one single species only, called Heliconia bihai (L.) L. or H. indica . Here the opinion is followed in which 6 palaeotropical Heliconia species are distinguished, all endemic to Asia and the South Pacific. The 6 paleotropical species, including H. indica , together comprise the subgenus Heliconiopsis , distributed from the Moluccas (and possibly Sulawesi) through New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to Samoa and Fiji. They can be distinguished from the neotropical species by their primarily green inflorescences, nocturnal anthesis and large, red to orange fruits.

In H. indica 5 geographically distinct varieties have been distinguished, differing in the vestiture on the peduncle and rachis, the colour of the inflorescence, and cincinnal bract size and shape, but the morphological boundaries are not always sharp. In South-East Asia 3 varieties occur:

• var. indica : probably endemic to the Moluccas and occurring in dense forest on ridges up to 200 m altitude; now also in cultivation in Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia; characterized by shoots less than 4 m tall, longest leaf blade less than 2 m long, peduncle and rachis puberulous to tomentose, cincinnal bracts usually less than 7;

• var. rubricarpa W.J. Kress: endemic to eastern Papua New Guinea and found in primary and secondary rainforest, often along creeks or rivers, typically below 200 m attitude, but sometimes up to 900 m; characterized by shoots taller than 5 m, longest leaf blade more than 2 m long, peduncle and rachis puberulous to tomentose, cincinnal bracts usually more than 7;

• var. micholitzii (Ridley) W.J. Kress: endemic to Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Archipelago), found in rainforest habitats up to 700 m altitude; also in cultivation in Sulawesi, where it is called "daun nasi" or "daun laicit" ("rice leaf"), referring to its main use; characterized by shoots 4-8 m tall, longest leaf blade less than 1.7 m long, peduncle and rachis glabrous, cincinnal bracts 4-10.

Of the other varieties, var. dennisiana W.J. Kress is endemic to the Solomon Islands and var. austrocaledonica (Veill.) W.J. Kress to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Santa Cruz Islands. Published cultivar names of H. indica are "Rabaul", "Sanderi", "Spectabilis", "Striata" (synonyms: "Aureo-striata", H. aureo-striata Hort. ex Bull.) and "Viridis".

Other Heliconia species occurring naturally in South-East Asia are H. papuana (endemic to Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea) and H. solomonensis (endemic to the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea.

Many neotropical Heliconia species have been introduced into South-East Asia and can be found in gardens and along streets in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, e.g. H. aurantiaca Ghiesbr., H. bihai (L.) L., H. collinsiana Griggs, H. latispatha Benth., H. metallica Planchon & Linden ex Hook., H. psittacorum L.f., H. rostrata Ruiz & Pavon, H. stricta Huber and H. wagneriana Petersen. In Thailand H. psittacorum and some other species, including H. collinsiana , H. stricta and H. wagneriana , are commercially grown as ornamentals. There are no records of hybridization between paleotropical and neotropical species.

In the Solomon Islands the leaves of H. solomonensis are used for temporary shelters and for wrapping and cooking food. The leaves of H. paka A.C. Smith serve for making temporary thatch in Fiji. In Samoa the leaves of H. laufao W.J. Kress are used for wrapping food, for covering stone ovens and for making temporary covers for dwellings, whereas dried fibres stripped from the petioles and midribs of the leaves are used as strainers for making coconut cream.

Ecology

H. indica is found in primary and secondary rainforest up to 700 m altitude. In general, Heliconia needs ample water and, in the tropics and subtropics, semi-shaded conditions. In forest it is normally only found in open spots where light reaches the soil. Fertile soils with good drainage are preferred.

Propagation and planting

Heliconia is usually propagated by division, sometimes by seed. Many H. indica cultivars rarely produce fertile seed, because flowers contain sterile pollen or fail to open properly, which may be due to artificial selection or inbreeding.

In South-East Asia H. indica is planted around the house. In Papua New Guinea attractive Heliconia plants are transplanted from the forest to gardens.

Diseases and pests

No information is available on pests and diseases affecting H. indica in South-East Asia. Fungi reported to attack H. indica cv. Spectabilis in Hawaii are Calonectria spathiphylli and Pythium spp. The most pronounced symptoms caused by Calonectria spathiphylli are leaf yellowing, drying of leaf margins, sheath spots and petiole blights. Eventually the leaves die. The primary symptoms of infection with Pythium spp. are root rot and slow decline of the plants.

Harvesting

H. indica leaves are harvested as needed.

Handling and harvest In Sulawesi (Minahassa Peninsula) the leaves are made supple by holding them over a fire for a short time, after which they are very suitable for wrapping food.

Genetic resources and breeding

No germplasm collections of H. indica are known to exist. Ornamental cultivars have been developed, but no breeding programmes aimed at improving its properties as a fibre plant are known to exist.

Prospects

The role of H. indica as a source of platters, wrapping material and cordage will remain limited to local use. Worldwide, its importance as an ornamental is greater, and this situation is likely to remain so.

Literature

• Backer, C.A., 1920. Heliconia indica Lamarck, an insufficiently known species of the East-Indian Archipelago. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, série 3, 2: 315-330.
• Berry, F. & Kress, W.J., 1991. Heliconia: an identification guide. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, United States. 334 pp.
• Green, P.S., 1969. Notes on Malesian plants: II. Old World Heliconia (Musaceae). Kew Bulletin 23(3): 472-478.
• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd Edition. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. (3rd Edition, 1950. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands / Bandung, Indonesia). p. 473.
• Kress, W.J., 1985. Bat pollination of an Old World Heliconia. Biotropica 17(4): 302-308.
• Kress, W.J., 1990. The taxonomy of old world Heliconia (Heliconiaceae). Allertonia 6(1): 1-58.

Authors

B.I. Utomo