The New Neotropical Companion

• The forest may be undergoing a long- term change
  in species composition. This, of course, will be
  increasingly evident with climate change.

Life Histories of Some

Representative Successional Plants

Heliconia

Heliconias (Heliconia spp., family Heliconiaceae) are

recognized by their huge, elongate paddle- shaped

leaves (similar to banana leaves) and their distinctive,

colorful red, orange, or yellow bracts surrounding the

inconspicuous flowers (plate 7- 16). In some species,

the bracts are reminiscent of lobster claws, hence the

genus common name lobster- claw. Most heliconias

grow best where light is abundant, in early successional

patches and forest gaps, and along roadsides, forest

edges, and stream banks. They grow quickly, clumps

spreading by underground rhizomes. Though named

for Mt. Helicon of ancient Greek mythology (the home

of the muses), these plants are all Neotropical in origin;

approximately 150 species are distributed throughout

Central and South America.

Colorful, conspicuous bracts surrounding the smaller

flowers attract hummingbird pollinators, especially

a group called the hermits (see plates 4- 29 and 15- 40;

discussed in chapter 15), most of which have long,

down- curving bills that permit them to dip deeply into

the 20 yellow- greenish flowers within each of the bracts.

Heliconias produce green fruits that ripen and

become blue- black in approximately three months. Each

fruit contains three large, hard seeds. Birds attracted

to heliconia fruits are important in the plant’s seed

dispersal. Heliconia seeds have a six- to seven- month

dormancy period prior to germination, which assures

that the seeds will germinate at the onset of rainy season.

Piper

Piper (family Piperaceae) is a diverse, pantropical genus of

plants with well over 1,000 and possibly as many as 2,000

species. The name Piper and the common name pepper

are from the same root wood, and black pepper (from the

South Asian species Piper nigrum) is just one of the spices

derived from the cultivation of various Piper species.

Piper is common in successional areas, though most

Piper species are shade tolerant and are found in the

Plate 7- 16. Flowering heliconia in the understory of an

Ecuadorian rain forest. Note the colorful bracts. The flower is

barely visible within the second bract from the bottom. Photo

by John Kricher.

Plate 7- 17. This cluster of Piper in Belize is ready for a nocturnal

visit by piperphile bats. Photo by John Kricher.

chapter 7 if a tree falls . . . rain forest disturbance dynamics 107