Heliconia indica Lam.

An erect coarse herb. It has underground stems or rhizomes. It is something like a banana. It grows to 2 m tall. It has a false stem of tightly rolled leaf sheaths. The leaves are oblong and 2-3 m long. The flowers have overlapping bracts which are red, yellow or green. The fruit are yellow.

A tropical plant. It grows best in full sun. It grows in humid tropical rainforests in areas when sun penetrates.

The flower bracts are cooked as a famine food. The seeds are eaten cooked. The leaves are used as wrapping to cook foods in earth ovens.

Plants can be grown by division.