Hanging lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata) is native to Central America, where migrating hummingbirds from North America pollinate the flowers while hovering to sip nectar. Their foreheads get dusted with pollen in the process — which apparently annoys some of them, because they have learned to poke a hole in the side of the flower to access the nectar and avoid the messy pollen! Let us hope not too many adopt this approach, because this is a spectacularly ornamental species.

Distant cousins of cannas, hanging lobster claws share the same growth habit, producing rhizomes every year that are topped with an inflorescence (group of flowers); unlike cannas, they require temperatures well above 50 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year in order to thrive and flower.