OBSERVATIONS ON HELICONIACEAE
Héctor Méndez Caratini
Heliconias have been flowering in the Neotropics for millions of years. It is theorized that they originated in the Orinoco/ Amazon region. From there, these plants spread, becoming endemic to much of the New World: Central and South America, including tropical southern Mexico and the Caribbean. This phytogeographical realm excludes, however, the southern parts of Chile and Argentina. The region inhabited by Heliconiacee is home to more than 188 named heliconia species.
In the Old World, six species and several varieties of the genus Heliconia are found in Oceania, the area that encompasses many of the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, such as Samoa, iji, Sulawesi, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and a few other neighboring smaller Indonesian islands.
These large exotic tropical plants, with their dramatic flowers, are now being cultivated all over the globe. They are much sought-after as cut flowers, which are used by florists as decorations. The living plants are used as ornamentals in landscapes.
Among scholars, it is widely known that the word heliconia derives from an ancient legend. Mount Helikon, in Boeotia (1), was believed to be the mountain on which the nine Greek Muses lived; these were the daughters of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, and they presided over the arts and sciences, inspiring artists, poets, philosophers, and musicians. They were said to sing songs about the origins of the world and its inhabitants. Polyhymnia was the muse of agriculture, and her stewardship is said to be the origin of the close relationship between the colorful heliconias and the genus Musaceae – bananas and plantains.
