BULLETIN

A Journal of the Zingiberales, including Cannaceae, Costaceae, Heliconiaceae Lowiaceae,

Marantaceae, Musaceae, Strelitziaceae, and Zingiberaceae
JUNE 2019 ISSN 2576-5507 VOL. 25 NO. 2
HSI Headquarters HSI Editors
Editors:
Dr. David H. Lorence KenKen
Dr. W. Leonhardt
W. Leonhardt and Dr.
Richard
Richard
A. Criley
A. Criley
National Tropical
TroppicalBotanical
BotanicalGarden
Garden Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences
3530 Papalina Road University of Hawaii
Kalaheo, Hawaii 96741 USA Honolulu,
Honolulu, Hawaii
HI 96822
Hawaii 96822
96822
USAUSA
USA

After making the hour and a

Backpacking in Panama's Central Range half drive from my house in
Volcán to Boquete, we got
Carla Black heliconiatortuosa@gmail.com on the trail. The trailhead is
at about 1300m; we climbed
June is rainy season in Panama, where I live. The garden for a few hours to the conti-
is springing to life, and my irrigation chores are replaced nental divide at about
by chopping and pruning. But when an acquaintance in 1600m. The higher eleva-
Florida said he was mounting a biological mini- tion plants were mostly old
expedition, I invited myself to join in. friends from my frequent
trips to the nearby hills.
Jorge Fernandez is
Panamanian and lives The trail is a farm-to-market
in Miami. He visits route for about 20 small
home in Boquete, cattle farms on the Atlantic
Chiriquí every year,
and spends most of
his vacation on the
trail, taking photos of
plants then posting
them on Facebook.
This time he invited
biologists to join him
for a six-day hike
from Boquete to the H. secunda with a different
Caribbean side of the spiral pattern
isthmus, in the west-
ern part of Panama. side called Sendero Pianista.
Many were invited, The neighbors maintain the
but between the multi trail to serve their purpose.
-day commitment and It's a bit rough in places, es-
the strenuous itiner- pecially with a heavy pack.
ary, finally we were So we went slowly. We were
Calathea spiralis seven in all, includ- accompanied by one of the
ing an avid orchid farm owners; he gets over to Very large leaf of
aficionado, a herpetologist and a primatologist. I lent a his pastures and cabin in one H. tortuosa
hand with Zingiberales, and others offered trail know- long day. For our group, it
how and local knowledge. was a three-day hike to get there, and we came back over
the same route in two days. Hiking the whole way in one
All week before the hike the rain poured down. Still cozy day would have done us in!
at home, I wondered if I was nuts to head for the hills in
rainy season. But if people do it, then I would manage. The three-cable bridges, built by our trail host whose farm
Maybe I would learn something about camping in a tropi- we would visit, were a new experience for all of us.
cal downpour.
 PAGE 2 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019

Our group taking a well-deserved break at the first spot with a view of the surroundings.

Renealmia sp. at left, H. cucullata, a high elevation forest dweller, center, and H. tortuosa inflorescence at right.

The Purpose of HSI

The purpose of HSI is to increase the enjoyment and under- Membership fees constitute annual dues from 1 July through 30
standing of Heliconia (Heliconiaceae) and related plants (in the June. All members receive the BULLETIN (usually published
families Cannaceae, Costaceae, Lowiaceae, Marantaceae, Mu- quarterly) and special announcements. Join or renew your
saceae, Strelitziaceae, and Zingiberaceae) of the order Zinger- membership at www.heliconia.org.
berales through education, research and communication. Inter-
est in Zingiberales and information on the cultivation and bota- HSI Officers and Board of Directors for 2018-2019
ny of these plants is rapidly increasing. HSI will centralize this Carla Black, President and Membership; David Lorence, Treas-
information and distribute it to members. urer; Jan Hintze, Secretary, Membership and Etlingera Cultivar
Registrar; Dave Skinner, Costaceae Cultivar Registrar and
The HELICONIA SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, a non- Conservation; Colton Collins, Webmaster; Chelsea Specht,
profit corporation, was formed in 1985 because of rapidly de- Student Grants; Bryan Brunner, Heliconia Cultivar Registrar;
veloping interest around the world in these plants and their Sandra Barnes, Archivist; and Directors: Vinita Gowda, Timo-
close relatives. We are composed of dues-paying members. thy Chapman, Vivian Loges, Minal Patil and Bian Tan.
Our officers and all participants are volunteers. Everyone is
welcome to join and participate. HSI conducts a Biennial Meet- The HSI BULLETIN is the quarterly publication of the
ing and International Conference. HELICONIA SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL.
Inquiries: Jan Hintze, admin@heliconia.org.
Membership dues are (in $US): Individual $40, Family $45, Website: www.heliconia.org
PDF $25, Student $10, Library $35, Contributing $50, Corpo-
rate $100, Sustaining $500, Lifetime Member $1000.
 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019 PAGE 3

At first we didn’t trust ourselves to cross the bridge.

But we would have to navigate the second bridge, in spite of our doubts . Edgardo Griffith, the herpetologist, summed it
up with that look on his face. That third bridge looked awfully long and high.

By the third bridge we were getting the hang of it, and on the return trip we were feeling pretty good up there, especially
if we didn’t have to carry our own packs.
 PAGE 4 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019

Getting down to lower elevations, we enjoyed the gor- Most of us had hammocks, which makes jungle camping a
geous forest, even if we had to keep moving to get to camp lot easier. Fortunately for us, all that rain the week earlier
by dark. diminished to a reasonable level for our week on the trail.
It rained sometimes while we hiked and sometimes while
we were in our hammocks. We felt very lucky to not have
rain while we set up or broke camp, while all our gear was
exposed. I'll have to learn about rain camping on another
trip.

A showy gesneriad

Amazing color for a ‘shroom Careful getting up at night. But at least I didn’t have to
sleep in the mud!

Scutellaria costaricana. I grow this in my garden, so it’s The night at the edge of a small pasture was challenging
a treat to see it in habitat. for the lack of trees. Hanging the hammock on a boulder
took about an hour, but it worked.
 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019 PAGE 5

There were more well-known species at mid elevations. I saw two heliconias on this trip that I didn't recognize
without their flowers. I will get to find out about one of
them, when it blooms in my garden in a few years. The
other, well, I'll just have to go back to visit when it's flow-
ering!

I couldn’t figure out, or even guess, what species this was.

Costus bracteatus, a pendent spedies

H. ramonensis var. lanuginosa at upper mid-elevation, This heliconia had me scratching my head. The long peti-
at left, and H. vaginalis that couldn’t keep its head up, oles and distinctly-shaped leaves were enough to con-
at right. vince me to carry rhizomes for two days.
 PAGE 6 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019
I enjoyed the six days in the forest, with knowledgeable
and companionable company, and I will be happy for the
few plants I was able to carry home with me. I'm ready to
go again!

Laureano’s cattle farm at 750m. We spent two nights

here, and hiked up the hill in the background on our rest
day. This was the men’s dorm — I enjoyed my hammock
and privacy, thank you very much.

The trail is in a canyon in places after years of use by

people and cattle, plus approximately 444cm (175 inches)
of rain per year.

Farm to market trails don’t have to meet government Mid-elevation forest we enjoyed for a few days of hiking.
specifications for recreational trails! Switch-backs are
quite unheard of.
 PAGEBULLETIN
THE 10 / JUNE 2019 THE BULLETIN / JANUARY 2005
PAGE 7

A quick stop in Singapore before the India symposium.

HSI conference The first day of the symposium was selected for the launch
of the Singapore Native Gingers stamp and the Singapore
Vivian Loges. Laboratory of Floriculture, Department Botanic Gardens Calendar 2019. They feature thirteen
of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Pernambu- paintings of plants in Zingiberales, all painted by Singa-
co (UFRPE), Dom Manoel de Medeiros Avenue, pore-based botanical artist Waiwai Hove (Kamaldin,
52171-900, Recife-PE, Brazil 2018) (Fig. 2). A calendar and set of stamps were later
auctioned at the HSI Conference, to the great benefit of
Due to the proximity of India and Singapore - for some- HSI!
one who lives in Brazil - I made a quick stop in Singapore
to participate in the 8th International Zingiberales Sympo- A total of 45 talks and 36 posters were presented in vari-
sium from 23-28 July 2018, before traveling to India for ous sessions focusing on molecular phylogeny and taxono-
the HSI conference. my, morphology, conservation, pollination and reproduc-
tive biology, phytochemistry, ethnobotany and horticulture
The event was held in the famous Singapore Botanic Gar- (Leong-Škorničková, 2019). Our HSI member Dr. W.
dens (SBG). Open since 1859, in 2015 the Singapore Bo- John Kress (Fig. 3), from the Smithsonian Institution, Na-
tanic Gardens became the only tropical botanic garden on tional Museum of Natural History, talked about
the UNESCO’s World Heritage list (Fig. 1). With an area ‘Coevolution in the Anthropocene: plant-animal interac-
of 74 well-maintained hectares, it is an important botani- tions in the Zingiberales’ His talk demonstrated the com-
cal institute. SBG currently houses important research re- plex interaction between animal species and plants of the
sources such as the Singapore Herbarium, the Library of ginger order, and pointed out the dangers of environmental
Botany and Horticulture, and the Orchid Breeding and changes to some of these interactions.
Micropropagation Laboratory.

Fig. 1: Singapore Botanic Garden, UNESCO World Heritage Site and the National Orchid Garden.
Since its beginning, SBG has been involved in ginger My oral and poster presentations about Brazilian research
research, mainly focused on understanding the diversity on Heliconia and Etlingera plant characterization, breed-
of gingers in Peninsular Malaysia and surrounding coun- ing, and postharvest (part of it already published in our
tries in Southeast Asia. The garden houses a large refer- Bulletin) drew a lot of attention about floriculture produc-
ence collection in the herbarium, various international tion, markets, collections, research funding and conserva-
research projects, as well as an intensive conservation tion of the natural environments of the native Heliconia
program for Singapore’s native gingers that resulted in an species.
important scientific account of gingers (Leong-
Škorničková, 2019). Throughout the years, the SBG has During the symposium we visited the SBG to observe its
offered opportunities to carry out short-term visits with original construction and collections, the National Orchid
their staff to do research, study horticulture work, botanic Garden, with more than a thousand species and about two
gardens management, educational outreach and visitor thousand hybrids of orchids. Nevertheless, the best part
management. was visiting the Ginger Garden that displays several hun-
dred species of gingers (more than 250 species of Zingi-
The International Zingiberales Symposium provided a beraceae) and plants from related families from the order
platform for ginger specialists (and lovers) to present Zingiberales. The one-hectare garden has been divided
their latest findings from various fields of ginger re- into zones where the plants with their beautiful leaves and
search, exchange ideas and start new collaborations. The very attractive flowers are organized by their regions of
Symposium was well-organized by Dr. Jana Leong- origin (Fig. 4). We also visited the Singapore Garden Fes-
Škorničková, her colleagues and students. The event host- tival at Gardens by the Bay where the wonderful symposi-
ed over 100 researchers from 21 countries such as Thai- um dinner was held.
land, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, India,
Spain, USA, Denmark, Austria, France and me - the only In conjunction with the symposium, the exhibition
one from Brazil and South America to participate in the ‘Zingiberales – beauty in diversity’ was held in SBG (Fig.
5).
 PAGE 8 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019

Musa velutina Tapeinochilos ananassae Heliconia longiflora Canna generalis

Fig. 2: The Singapore Native Gingers stamps and the Singapore Botanic Gardens Calendar 2019 with paintings of
Zingiberales celebrated launch day during the symposium (https://www.nparks.gov.sg)

Fig. 3: Invited speaker Dr. W. John Kress and the speech ‘Coevolution in the Anthropocene: plant-animal interactions in
the Zingiberales’.
 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019 PAGE 9

Heliconia longiflora Heliconia longissima Heliconia mathiasae

Costus woodsonii Wurfbainia testacea Ensete lasiocarpum

Fig. 4: Ginger Garden from Singapore Botanical Garden
 12
PAGE 10 THE THE
BULLETIN / JANUARY
BULLETIN 2005
/ JUNE 2019

Fig. 5: The ‘Zingiberales – beauty in diversity’ exhibition highlighted the importance of Ginger plants to people.

This exhibition aimed to provide information about the

beauty and economic importance of the plants to the gen-
eral public. It was divided into three parts: a general intro-
duction to the eight families of the Ginger order
(difference and diversity); the botany and plant taxonomy
importance (plant collecting during field trips); and how
life wouldn’t be the same without gingers with examples
of products like bananas, curry, ginger flavored drinks,
Renew your
cosmetics, medicines and ornamental plants (Leong-
Škorničková, 2019).

The International Zingiberales Symposium is held every

three years and is often in eastern part of Asia. In 2024 the
membership today!
10th Symposium will coincide with the XXIII Heliconia
Society International Conference. It would be wonderful
to attend both events!

Thanks to the generous financial support provided by Mr.

Yes, I am talking to
Tan Jiew Hoe, who enabled the registration and stay of
almost 40 students and researchers, mainly from the
Southeast Asian region, including myself! And I would
also like to thank the financial support of the Brazilian
institutions CNPq and FACEPE.
YOU!
The Singapore Botanic Gardens. https://
www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg/about/singapore-s-first-unesco-
world-heritage-site. June 26, 2019.

Leong-Škorničková, J. The 8th International Zingiberales

Symposium – continuing a legacy of ginger research in the
Garden. Gardenwise. Volume 52 • February 2019. https://
www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg/research/publications/-/media/
sbg/gardenwise/gw_2019_vol_52_(feb).pdf. June 26,
2019

Kamaldin, E. The Making of The Singapore Botanic Gar-

dens' Calendar 2019. https://www.nparks.gov.sg/
mygreenspace/issue-39-vol-4-2018/lifestyle/recreation- www.heliconia.org
and-activities/the-making-of-the-singapore-botanic-
gardens%27-calendar-2019. July 1st, 2019.
 THE BULLETIN / JUNE
JANUARY
20192005 PAGE 11
13

Taming the White Dragon

the best ratings (5), due largely to bunching of the foliage
at the top of the stem as the retardants took effect.
Richard A. Criley, Depart. Tropical Plant & Soil Sci-
ences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96822-2279. In this study, the controls, at 21 inches (53.4 cm), were too
Jeff S. Kuehny, Depart. of Horticulture, Louisiana tall, but had the longest inflorescences and best foliage
State University, Baton Rouge, 70803-2120. appearance. PBZ-treated plants averaged 51% of the
height of control plants, while the UNI and FLUR plants
BACKGROUND averaged 42 and 36%, respectively, and were too distorted
The stunning white inflorescences of Globba sher- at the rates used. In hindsight, a rate of 0.25 mg/pot
woodiana ‘White Dragon’ are borne on stems ranging should have been included for an intermediate effect on
from 20 to 30 inches tall. Potted plants are thus too tall for height without excess compression of the inflorescence or
ease of handling without staking and out of proportion to a foliage.
6” pot.
The plants were allowed to go dormant and were forced
MATERIALS & METHODS the following spring with no additional growth retardant
Three rhizomes were planted in Premier HP medium in 6” treatment. Flowering was achieved about 7 weeks after
azalea pots. The medium was amended with 1.0 lb treble shoot emergence.
superphosphate per yd³, 6 lb dolomite per yd³, 9 lb 18N-
2.6P-10K Osmocote ® per yd³, and 1.5 lb Micromax ® Rhizomes from the previous year’s soak treatments ranged
per yd³. Following planting the pots were set under 60% in height from 18 to 25 inches (46 – 65 cm), with 50 to 86
saran shade under ambient conditions (80 F D/72 F N) percent of the pots producing inflorescences. Control
with overhead sprinkler irrigation. plants at 20.5 inches (52 cm) were too tall for ease of han-
The growth retardants chosen for the experiment were dling, but had the best foliage quality. Plants developing
paclobutrazol (PBZ), uniconazole (UNI) and flurprimidol from the previous year’s soak treatments were quite varia-
(FLUR). Sets of 10 rhizomes were given an overnight ble, with some taller than the controls and others showing
soak in each of the growth retardants at 2 mg a.i./L prior more compact growth. As the uniformity was poor, this
to planting. Other rhizomes were treated with 0.5 or 0.1 would not be the best way to produce a uniform crop of
mg/pot soil drenches of each retardant as shoots emerged short plants.
from the medium about 2 weeks after planting.
Plants from rhizomes that developed in the two PBZ treat-
RESULTS ments were taller than plants in the FLUR or UNI treat-
Rhizomes that received preplant retardant soaks were de- ments but were shorter than the control plants (top photo,
layed in shoot emergence and many failed to develop to page 12), but with comparable stalk strength. The increas-
flowering. This does not appear to be a viable approach to ing growth retardant concentrations used as drenches in
height control. the previous year had a linear effect in reducing finished
plant height (Table 2).
Drench treatments successfully controlled plant height, PGR Rate Shoot % Flower
with the 1.0 mg/pot rates mostly more effective than the Length Flow- Stalks
0.5 mg/pot rates (Table 1). er
Plant Rate Shoot DTF Rating Control 0 52.0 77.7 2.3
Growth mg/ Length days Bonzi 0.5 48.5 90.0 1.5
Regulator pot 1.0 34.2 50.0 4.6
Control 0 53.4 45 4.8 Sumagic 0.5 7.5 50.0 3.2
Bonzi 0.5 31.6 46 3.9 1.0 4.4 50.0 2.2
1.0 21.9 47 3.2 FLUR 0.25 30.5 62.5 3.2
Sumagic 0.5 18.7 46 3.2 0.5 20.4 33.3 2.7
1.0 19.6 48 3.3 1.0 11.3 28.5 1.5
FLUR 0.25 18.1 48 3.0
0.5 15.2 51 3.7
1.0 14.5 50 3.5 The 0.5mg PBZ and 0.25mg FLUR drench treatments pro-
duced plants that were marketable from the standpoint of
Effectiveness was achieved in the order of height, inflorescence counts, and percentage of pots that
FLUR>UNI>PBZ>control. Inflorescence lengths followed bloomed. The most severely retarded stalks (bottom pho-
the same trend. Expanded leaf counts for all shoots were to, right) were not marketable and the inflorescences were
not different from 6. First shoots to flower required about also greatly reduced in size. Nearly all the flowering
6 weeks for all treatments, with second shoots flowering stalks had necrotic leaf margins at flowering, suggesting
only a few days later. Thus, uniformity was good. The nutrients may have been limiting during inflorescence de-
salability ratings varied, with only a few plants achieving velopment, while non-flowering stalks had healthy green
leaves.
 PAGE 12 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019

CONCLUSIONS IMPACT TO THE INDUSTRY

The results suggest that retardants drenches can be used to
achieve market-able plants of Globba sherwoodiana 1. Attractive and unusual flower form generate consumer
‘White Dragon’ (photo, below). It is necessary to deter- interest.
mine whether the carryover effects of the retardants into 2. Short cropping time of 8 to 10 weeks at 77 to 83 F
the second year were due to retardant remaining in the greenhouse temperatures.
medium or to uptake of the retardant into the rhizome. If 3. Drenches of growth retardants at sprouting can control
the latter, there may a potential for marketing retardant- excessive plant height.
pre-treated rhizomes for production of compact plants.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-—--
New Heliconia Cultivar Registrations Registration of H. ‘Six A.M.’
‘Six A.M.’ (H. bihai)
Bryan R. Brunner, International Registrar for Heli- Registered 19 October 2017. Registrant/Nominant: Col-
conia, PO Box 692, Maricao, Puerto Rico 00606 ton Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo,
brbrunner@yahoo.com HI 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com).

Registration of H. ‘Four A.M.’ Description: Inflo-

‘Four A.M.’ (H. bihai) rescence erect; 9 disti-
Registered 19 October 2017. chous bracts, red base,
Registrant/Nominant: Colton yellow to cream green
Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., transitioning to green
PO Box 4099, Hilo, HI 96720 tips; 4 cm wide by 19
USA (cocollins@plantgrouphaw cm long; rachis red;
-aii.com) sepals white then green
distally; ovary white;
Description: Inflorescence erect; pedicel white. Vegeta-
6 distichous bracts, exterior tion musoid; leaf blade
brownish pink with green upper 31.8 cm wide, 91.4 cm
bracts, interior dark pink in the long, green, midrib
middle, light green on the lips; 2.9 H. bihai ‘Four A.M.’ green. Height 3 m.
cm wide by 17.1 cm long, rachis Bloom peak May-July.
brownish pink; sepals white then green distally; ovary
white; pedicel white. Vegetation musoid; leaf blade 36 Notes: This spontane-
cm wide, 118 cm long, green, midrib green. Height 2.8 m. ous H. bihai seedling
Bloom peak May-July. was grown at Plant
Group Hawaii. The
Notes: This is a spontaneous seedling grown at the Plant name 'Six A.M.' is a H. bihai ‘Six A.M.’
Group Hawaii's Hilo farm. The name is a play on the play on the name of the
name of its parent; the color of the sky is darker at 4:00am parent, 'Five A.M.' It's lighter at 6:00am than it is at
than at 5:00am, and so the color of 'Four A.M.' is darker 5:00am, just as this 'Six A.M.' is lighter. Also, the bracts
than its parent 'Five A.M.' are more yellow than the parent.
 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019 PAGE 13

Registration of H. ‘Pacific Fire’ Registration of H. ‘Peachy Orange’

‘Pacific Fire’ (H. stricta 'Jamaican Dwarf' × H. wagneria- ‘Peachy Orange’ (H. bihai)
na) Registered 19 August 2017. Registrant/Nominant: Colton
Registered 29 April 2015. Registrant/Nominant: Herman Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo, HI
and Tilda Jongkind, 1390 Pipiwai Rd RD6, Whangarei, 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com)
New Zealand (jayde.jongkind@gmail.com)
Description: Inflo-
Description: Inflo- rescence erect; 10
rescence erect; 3 - distichous bracts,
10 distichous peachy orange with
bracts, intense red, gold and green lips;
upper line of yel- 3.8 cm wide, 15.9
low, green and ma- cm long; rachis pink;
roon exterior, or- sepals white then
ange red inside green distally; ovary
bract; 2 cm wide, white; pedicel white.
11 cm long; rachis Vegetation musoid;
lighter shade of red; leaf blade 30.5 cm
sepals white proxi- H. ‘Pacific Fire’
wide, 134.6 cm long;
mally, then green green sometimes
with white tip; ovary white; pedicel red. Vegetation with maroon margin;
musoid; leaf blade 15 - 20 cm wide, 60 - 90 cm long, up- midrib sometimes
per surface medium green with a red midrib, lower surface maroon. Height 3.4
waxy light green. Height 1 - 2.5 m. Blooming nearly all m. Bloom peak
year with a peak May-October in New Zealand. April-July. H. bihai ‘Peachy Orange’

Notes: Grown from seeds produced by intentional pollina- Notes: This was a spontaneous seedling grown at the
tion in greenhouse. It has larger flowers than 'Jamaican Chiang Mai, Thailand farm of Plant Group. ‘Peachy Or-
Dwarf', but smaller than other H. stricta. Color is much ange’ is just as peachy, of course, but it's more orange col-
more intense than 'Jamaican Dwarf'. Grows much better in ored than its parent H. bihai 'Peachy Pink'.
a harsh climate than 'Jamaican Dwarf'. Named Pacific due
to South Pacific origin, Fire because of intense color. Registration of H. ‘Peachy Red’
‘Peachy Red’ (H. bihai)
Registration of H. ‘Pacific Rainbow’ Registered 19 August 2017. Registrant/Nominant: Colton
‘Pacific Rainbow’ (H. stricta × H. wagneriana) Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo, HI
Registered 29 April 2015. Registrant/Nominant: Herman 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com)
and Tilda Jongkind, 1390 Pipiwai Rd RD6 ,Whangarei,
New Zealand (jayde.jongkind@gmail.com) Description: In-
florescence erect;
Description: Inflorescence 10 distichous
erect; 2 - 11 distichous bracts, bracts, peachy
exterior yellow cream base red with gold and
with red cheek, upper margin green lips; 4.4 cm
is yellow overlapped by green wide, 15.9 cm
line; orange yellow inside with long; rachis pink-
green upper margin; 2 cm ish red; sepals
wide, 11 cm long; rachis whit- white then green
ish; sepals white proximally, distally; ovary
then green with whitish tip; white; pedicel
ovary white; pedicel white. white. Vegeta-
Vegetation musoid; leaf blade H. ‘Pacific Rainbow’ tion musoid; leaf
15 - 20 cm wide, 60 - 120 cm blade 31.1 cm
long, upper surface medium green with light red midrib, wide, 118.7 cm
lower surface glossy light green. Height 1 - 2.5 m. long, green with H. bihai ‘Peachy Red’
Blooming nearly all year with a peak May-October in New maroon margin;
Zealand. midrib sometimes slightly maroon. Height 4 m. Bloom-
ing nearly year round.
Notes: Grown from seeds produced by intentional pollina-
tion in greenhouse. It has much smaller and lighter flowers Notes: This H. bihai seedling was discovered at Plant
than H. wagneriana. Much longer flowering season and Group's Thai farm. Peachy Red' refers to the color and
higher stem count than H. wagneriana. Doesn't have as parentage. It’s peachy like the original but with more red
many flowers per bract. Named Pacific due to South Pacif- than 'Peachy Pink'. There's also less yellow to be seen.
ic origin, Rainbow because of the multicolored bracts.
 PAGE 14 THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019
Registration of H. ‘Heart of Gold’ Registration of H. ‘Red Carpet’
‘Heart of Gold’ (H. stricta) ‘Red Carpet’ (H. vellerigera possibly hybrid)
Registered 14 October 2017. Registrant/Nominant: Col- Registered 9 December 2015. Registrant/Nominant: Col-
ton Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo, ton Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo,
HI 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com) HI 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com)

Description: Inflorescence Description: Inflorescence pendent;

erect; 6 distichous bracts, red 6-8 spiral bracts, bright red with
base fades into gold and ends hairs mostly at base and gradually
with light green margins, in- less to none towards tip; 3.4 cm
terior gold with red at tips; wide, 15.6 cm long; rachis red with
5.2 cm wide, 19 cm long; light brown hairs; sepals yellow with
rachis red; sepals white then fine hairs; ovary cream to light yel-
green distally; ovary white; low with fine hairs; pedicel cream
pedicel white. Vegetation with fine hairs. Vegetation musoid;
musoid; leaf blade 27.3 cm leaf blade 30.5 cm wide, 104 cm
wide, 114.3 cm long; green long, green with maroon margin,
with maroon margin; upper upper midrib light green; lower mid-
midrib light green, lower rib maroon. Height 3 m. Blooming
midrib can be maroon. year round with peak November-
Height 2.4 m. Bloom peak February in Thailand.
March to May in Thailand.
Notes: The color, texture and glam-
Notes: A spontaneous seed- our of Hollywood's red carpet comes
ling grown at his farm in to heliconia! This seedling of H. vel- H. ‘Red Carpet’
H. stricta ‘Heart of Gold’
Chiang Mai, Thailand, Mark lerigera first grown at Plant Group's Thai farm might be a
Collins named this cultivar after the Neil Young song, naturally-produced hybrid. 'Red Carpet' differs from other
“Heart of Gold”. It is thought to be a hybrid of H. stricta H. vellerigera cultivars in the brighter red color and less
with another unknown parent. 'Heart of Gold' is similar to hairy bracts. The rachis and base of the bracts is hairy,
H. stricta ‘Slash and Burn’ except bracts are redder, gold reducing to no hair at the bract tips. The final bract is of-
instead of yellow, and the green margins are thinner. ten mostly white then turns red with maturity.

Registration of H. ‘Queen Bee’ Registration of H. ‘Red Dragon’

‘Queen Bee’ (H. vellerigera possibly hybrid) ‘Red Dragon’ (H. indica)
Registered 19 August 2017. Registrant/Nominant: Col- Registered 26 August 2013. Registrant/Nominant: Jose
ton Collins, Plant Group Hawaii Inc., PO Box 4099, Hilo, Rafael Rosado Otero, HC-01 Box 4032, Corozal PR
HI 96720 USA (cocollins@plantgrouphawaii.com) 00783 USA (jrafiel1@gmail.com)

Description: Inflorescence pen- Description: Inflorescence erect; 5-6

dent; 12 spiral bracts, exterior distichous bracts, purple-green to
red with short hairs and golden brown outside, bright red inside with
margins, interior mustard yellow, a leafy green tip at the end of the
some red towards lips; 3.2 cm bract with red borders and bright red
wide, 14.6 cm long; rachis red in the center, 7.6-8 cm wide, 15-23
with caramel colored hairs; sep- cm long; rachis cream-brown; sepals
als yellow then gold at tip; ovary cream basally with brown-red distal-
cream white; pedicel cream ly; ovary red; pedicel white. Vege-
white. Vegetation musoid; leaf tation musoid; leaf blade 27 to 60
blade 25.6 cm wide, 121.3 cm cm wide, 100 to 240 cm long, upper
long, green, under leaf lighter leaf is deep cherry red in full sun,
green and maroon when young, emerging yellow-red while purple-
upper midrib light green; lower green to red in shade with deep red
midrib sometimes maroon. midrib, lower surface is brighter
Height 3.5 m. Blooming peaks cherry red, midrib bronze red in
May-July. H. ‘Queen Bee’
shade, bright red in sun. Height .9 to
3.5 m. Blooming January to April, H. ‘Red Dragon’
Notes: Named after Bee Collins, this H. vellerigera is the though blooms rarely. underleaf
queen of all H. vellerigera. This is a spontaneous seedling
grown at Plant Group's Thai farm, and is possibly a hy- Notes: The name comes from its bracts looking just like
brid. The bicolor bracts of this H. vellerigera is what Chinese red dragon legs and body. The tips of the bracts
makes it different from other cultivars, and it is also less have prominent leafy composition in all bracts including
pubescent than most H. vellerigera. the smallest last one.
THE BULLETIN / JUNE 2019 PAGE 15

XXI HSI International Conference

August 4 – 6, 2020, Quindío Botanical Garden, Armenia, Colombia
http://jardinbotanicoquindio.org/

With a post-conference tour visit to the Feria de Flores in Medellín.

Details of tours to be announced.

Hosted by:
Jaime Mantilla, businessman and heliconia aficionado
Alberto Gómez, founder and director of Jardín Botánico de Quindío
Dr. Gustavo Morales, of the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá, and author of many heliconia species

Pueblo Rico Quindio Mariposario

Quindio Botanical Garden Pueblo Rico

Enchanted water fall Let’s take this mystery road into the jungle
Choco village
HSI Headquarters
Dr. David H. Lorence
National Tropical Botanical
PAGE

Garden
16

3530 Papalina Road In this issue:

THE BULLETIN

1. Backpacking in Panama's Central Range

Carla Black

7. A quick stop in Singapore before the India HSI conference

Vivian Loges

10. Renew your membership!

/ JANUARY 2005

Lizzi HSI Bulletin advertising guidelines:

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12. New Heliconia Cultivar Registrations * Ads should be prepared in digital format, and can be
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