Heliconias with pendent inflorescences as cut flowers

Abstract

The Heliconia species with pendent inflorescences and colorful bracts are a good option as a cut flower for floriculture market, but only a few species of this type of Heliconia eg. H. rostrata, H. rauliniana and H. chartacea are commercially produced in Brazil. This study was carried out to characterize 36 Heliconia accessions, with pendent inflorescences, to be used as cut flower, intending to increase knowledge and use of these exceptional plants among tropical flower enthusiasts and consumers. The evaluations were performed on plants of the Germplasm Collection of the Instituto Agronômico (IAC) growing in shade, partial shade or full sun conditions. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics, related to clump growth and flower stem aspects were analyzed. A point scoring system was used to determine the species most suitable for cut flower utilization. All evaluated genotypes reached enough points to be considered suitable for use as cut flowers, even those with large inflorescences and bracts arranged in different planes, facts that affect and limit handling, packaging and transportation. H. mariae, H. fernandezii, H. platystachys, H. rauliniana, H. rostrata, H. standley, H. necrobracteata and H. laxa were considered outstanding. This characterization and scoring system were important to facilitate the selection of heliconia genotypes for use as cut flowers.

Leaf anatomy and morpho-physiological mechanisms of acclimation to high irradiance in heliconia genotypes

“…The tropical flower market has been showing constant growth and the heliconia are quite appreciated for its diversity of shapes and colors of bracts, for differentiated beauty and for presenting good resistance to transport and post-harvest duration, being exploited mainly as cut flower (Beckmann-Cavalcante et al, 2016;Gonçalves et al, 2021). Although heliconia is typical of tropical regions, studies indicate that some species when grown in high levels of light irradiation common in semiarid regions shown drastically decreasing their growth and yield (Souza et al, 2016;Nihad et al, 2019).…”

“…The success in the production of heliconia and consequently the commercialization of the inflorescences, depends on the use of quality propagation material, the implementation of production and handlings techniques that consider the characteristics and particularities of each species, and the correct choice of species/varieties that are adapted or have potential for acclimation to the prevailing environmental conditions of the cultivation region (Souza et al, 2016;Gonçalves et al, 2021). In this way, the climatic conditions of the cultivation environment as well the availability of water and nutrients are of extreme importance for the growth and development of the plants (Santos Filho et al, 2022).…”

Conservação pós-colheita de Helicônia

“…Helicônia é uma planta ornamental de estilo exótico (LINARES-GABRIE et al, 2019), conhecida como garra de lagosta, flor de papagaio, banana-da-papagaio ou banana-da-terra falsa (BUZARD, 2019). Contribuciones a Las Ciencias Sociales, São José dos Pinhais, v.16, n.12, p. 34045-34058, 2023 Seu apelo ornamental como flores de corte pode ser atribuído às atraentes brácteas que emolduram e protegem as flores, com diversos formatos e cores intensas, muitas vezes com cores contrastantes que aumentam sua aceitação pelo consumidor (GONÇALVES et al, 2021).…”