FALSE-BIRDS-OF-PARADISE

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False-birds of paradise plants refer to members of the Heliconiaceae family; they are native to the neotropics and have brightly coloured inflorescences, which make them popular among horticulturalists. Not to be confused with the much less diverse birds-of-paradise plants (same order, Zingiberales, but different family, Strelitzaceae), or namesakes birds-of-paradise (actual birds, family Paradisaeidae).

The hard bright bracts of Heliconia inflorescences house their comparatively drab little flowers and the erect varieties usually accumulate water in these bracts. In other words, they are also phytotelmata, although much smaller ones than those of most tank bromeliads. Like bromeliad phytotelmata, Heliconia bracts house communities of invertebrates, albeit more transitory and less diverse ones. Because most Heliconia are disturbance plants, they grow quickly from a horizontal stem underground (rhizome), making them excellent models for planted experiments in the rainforest. I have planted over a hundred individual Heliconia stricta in common garden plots in the rainforest to study the genetics of plant-bacteria-invertebrate interactions, in a more controlled yet in-situ environment. This study was part of my PhD research and is took place in San José de Payamino, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I hope to publish this work soon!