Art by Alice Tangerini: Heliconia chartacea var. meeana

From Plant Press, Vol. 2, No. 2, July 1999.

Heliconia chartacea var. meeana W.J. Kress

Heliconia chartacea var. meeana W.J. Kress (Heliconiaceae) was described in Biollania Edicion No. 6 (1997), a festschrift in honor of Dr. John J. Wurdack. The cincinnal bract and rachis of the plant is yellow, in contrast to the deep red and pink of the typical variety. It is named after Margaret Mee, who painted the new variety as observed along the Vaupés River, Brazil in 1985. Her painting is displayed in the Mee exhibit (see related article this issue). In 1991 the new variety was sought and collected by John Kress in Venezuelan Amazonia, after receiving a specimen previously collected by Dr. Paul Berry.