Heliconia latispatha
Benth. · speciesAt a glance
Sources12 archives
Databases and archives Heliconia latispatha's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation6 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility4 231 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI13 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics22 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
giftgenome & karyotype
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Heliconia latispatha (expanded lobsterclaw) is a plant species native to southern Mexico (Tabasco, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Campeche), Central America and northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru) and naturalized in Florida and Jamaica.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Heliconia latispatha It is an herbaceous perennial up to 4 m tall, with leaves resembling those of bananas. The inflorescence is erect, up to 45 cm long, with red or orange bracts subtending green, yellow or orange flowers.Flora of North America v 22, Heliconia latispathaGeorge Bentham. 1846. Botany of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur 170–171, Heliconia latispatha .
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology8
Life cycle & reproduction6
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment11
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Heliconia latispatha has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Heliconia latispatha carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 243×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · eflora · GIFT · GIFT (floras)
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type4 231 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions49 of 114 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Saint Louis, US | 323 |
| Durango, MX | 114 |
| National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 92 |
| Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record | 88 |
| Mexico City, MX | 59 |
| Corporación Autónoma Regional Para la Defensa de la Meseta de Bucaramanga (CDMB)location not on record | 52 |
| Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV | 39 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 36 |
| Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas - SINCHIlocation not on record | 34 |
| Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX | 33 |
| Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record | 30 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 25 |
| Mérida, MX | 21 |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record | 20 |
| Berlin, DE | 19 |
| Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record | 19 |
| Chicago, US | 15 |
| Xiamen, CN | 14 |
| Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record | 14 |
| León, NI | 14 |
| Kew, GB | 13 |
| San Francisco de Campeche, MX | 13 |
| San José, CR | 13 |
| Durham, US | 12 |
| Aarhus, DK | 10 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 10 |
| Tampa, US | 10 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 10 |
| QCNElocation not on record | 9 |
| Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Moreloslocation not on record | 9 |
| Area de Conservacion Guanacastelocation not on record | 9 |
| Mexico City, MX | 9 |
| Université de Bordeauxlocation not on record | 8 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 8 |
| Bronx, US | 8 |
| Jardín Botánico de Cartagena "Guillermo Piñeres" (JBC)location not on record | 7 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 7 |
| Honolulu, US | 6 |
| Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX | 5 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 5 |
| Mexico City, MX | 5 |
| Ciudad de México, MX | 4 |
| Mérida, MX | 4 |
| Universidad de Guayaquillocation not on record | 4 |
| Yaoundé, CM | 4 |
| Cambridge, US | 4 |
| Tapachula, MX | 4 |
| Montecillo, Texcoco, MX | 3 |
| Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Región Xalapalocation not on record | 3 |
| Universidad de los Llanos (UniLlanos)location not on record | 3 |
| Puerto Ayora, EC | 3 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 3 |
| BMlocation not on record | 3 |
| Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)location not on record | 3 |
| CNF-UFHBlocation not on record | 3 |
| Universidad Nacional Agrarialocation not on record | 3 |
| Centro Cultural Santo Domingolocation not on record | 3 |
| Quito, EC | 3 |
| Calabar, NG | 3 |
| Universidad de La Salle (La Salle)location not on record | 3 |
| EL PASO, US | 2 |
| Universidad de Córdoba (UC)location not on record | 2 |
| OTSlocation not on record | 2 |
| Chapingo, MX | 2 |
| GB | 2 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 2 |
| Auckland, NZ | 2 |
| JBRJlocation not on record | 2 |
| Burlington, US | 2 |
| Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record | 2 |
| HUAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad Católica de Oriente (UCO)location not on record | 2 |
| Austin, US | 2 |
| Sangmiung Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| MEXUlocation not on record | 2 |
| Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC)location not on record | 2 |
| Station d'Ecologie de Lamtolocation not on record | 2 |
| Guatemala City, GT | 2 |
| Altos de Pipe, VE | 2 |
| California State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Dekalb, US | 1 |
| Vancouver, CA | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| CUVClocation not on record | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| UnBlocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (UDistrital)location not on record | 1 |
| Knox Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
| Autlán de Navarro, MX | 1 |
| Río Palenque Science Centerlocation not on record | 1 |
| Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record | 1 |
| Sociedad para el Estudio de los Recursos Bióticos de Oaxaca, A. C.location not on record | 1 |
| UFMGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoirelocation not on record | 1 |
| Gump Stationlocation not on record | 1 |
| Madison, US | 1 |
| Austin, US | 1 |
| South Kensington, GB | 1 |
| Universidad de El Salvadorlocation not on record | 1 |
| MAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Museo de Historia Natural de El Salvadorlocation not on record | 1 |
| UERJlocation not on record | 1 |
| Wlocation not on record | 1 |
| CSULAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Fundación Jardín Botánico Joaquín Antonio Uribe de Medellínlocation not on record | 1 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 1 |
| arosemena tola, EC | 1 |
| National Tropical Botanical Gardenlocation not on record | 1 |
| QAPlocation not on record | 1 |
| Ivano-Frankivsk, UA | 1 |
| GAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad de los Andes (UniAndes)location not on record | 1 |
| Herbario Selva Central Oxapampa - estación biológica del Jardín Botánico de Missourilocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Heliconia latispatha was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.