I Speak For The Trees

Heliconia, growing at Union Base, Pastaza Province.  These banana relatives are cultivated for their showy flowers.  There are more than 500 species of Heliconia in Ecuador, ranging from the high-altitude cloud forests (link here to BKAB) through to the Amazon basin(link).  Propagation is by separation of pups from the mother rhizome, like other members of the Zingiberales.  Temperature does not appear to be too great a factor for them, rather it is moisture which limits their range; heliconia will not grow naturally in Quito, for example, but are sometimes considered nusciance weeds in wetter parts of the country.  They are an important food species for hummingbirds.