heliconia bahia ?
 

can anyone identify this heliconia i just got it today and the guy i got it from didnt know what it was it looks like giant lobster claw 2 to me but not sure these are the pictures the guy had

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

this dont help but this is the piece of it i got today im pissed that ppl always cut the leaves usps does make bigger boxes

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

It's not the lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata). H. rostrata has pendulous blooms, whereas the one in your photo has an erect bloom. Maybe Steve L will check in and give you an idea. He's our resident heliconia guru.

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

My guess is Bihai Lobster Claw Two. It's the right color and each inflo looks to have over 10 bracts. Lots of heliconia carry the nick name "Lobster Claw"; with this one, that's the real name. It's a giant among heliconia reaching up to 14 feet. Definietly, definitely, not very cold hardy and is going to be so very difficult to grow and flower in a container. I tried numerous Bihai, Caribaea, and crosses of the two over the last 10 years and only got one to bloom in a container, Jacquinii. The container got so heavy that it took 3 people to move it into my greenhouse. I finally gave up and moved to some of the medium sized heliconia that produce inflos almost as big as the Bihai and Caribaea cultivars.

Good luck with this one.

Steve

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

the guy said it was heliconia bahia x ? quote him "its a natural high breed" said it gets to 5- 11 feet tall Steve L your guess is the same as mine so im gonna lable it as that from all the pictures i have seen it looks the closes to the lobster claw 2. im just wondering if it is even a bahia and not a orthotricha?

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

Well, if the guy told you it was a natural hybird of Bihai and something else, then I don't know what it is because none of the natural hyrids that I am familiar with of Bihai x Caribaea look like your picture. If it blooms at 5 feet, then it could be an Orthotricha and they naturally cross with Strictas. Both the blooms of an Orthotricha and a Stricta have that Lobster Claw look to the bracts but don't normally produce as many bracts as shown in your pictures. That's a huge bloom.

Steve

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

Steve,

This is definitely not H. rostrata, though, right? H. rostrata is the one most commonly known as lobster claws (or so I thought) and it's blooms are penulous. Whatever he has, it's got nice blooms.

Re: heliconia bahia ?
 

You're correct. It's definitely not Rostrata. Like I said, a lot of heliconia carry the "Lobster Claw" nick name. Rostrata, etc. But there are only a couple of erect heliconia that have Lobster Claw as the name. Lobster Claw One, Lobster Claw Two. Both of those are Bihai varieties and both are erect.