Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Hanging Lobster Claw
Heliconia rostrata
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosHow tall it arrives: 400mm about 1.5 to 2.5m. Heights vary with species and season. How pot sizes work
Getting it in: the largest size here needs about 900mm to 1.2m of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Hanging Lobster Claw - Heliconia rostrata
The pendulous inflorescence is the entire point of this plant: a chain of stacked scarlet bracts, each tipped in yellow and green, hanging almost vertically from the stem like a string of lacquered claws. Heliconia rostrata grows as a clumping rhizomatous perennial with broad banana like leaves on upright canes, and the flowers hang clear of the foliage so they can be seen from below and from a distance. In Australia it is a plant for genuinely warm, humid, frost free gardens, and it repays rich soil and constant moisture with an extraordinary summer display.
Why Hanging Lobster Claw
Pendulous bracts: The hanging red and yellow inflorescence is unlike anything else in the tropical palette and lasts for weeks on the plant.
Long flowering: Established clumps produce successive flower stems through summer and into autumn.
Bold foliage mass: Even out of flower the paddle shaped leaves give substantial tropical bulk at two metres and above.
Clumping spread: It thickens outwards from rhizomes, so a single plant becomes a stand over a few seasons.
Cut flower value: The stems are a florist staple and hold well once cut.
Ideal Applications
Tropical feature bed: Planted where the hanging flowers can be viewed from below, such as above a retaining wall or beside steps.
Poolside planting: Provides height, colour and lushness in the warm humid microclimate around a pool.
Understorey to palms: Sits well beneath tall palms where it gets filtered light and shelter from wind.
Large containers: In marginal climates it can be grown in big pots and moved under cover for winter.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 1 to 1.5m apart for a continuous stand
Spacing (feature/avenue): 2 to 3m apart
Best Planting Season: Spring and early summer, at the start of the warm wet season
Soil & Drainage: Deep, rich, heavily composted soil that holds moisture but still drains, with a slightly acidic pH
Establishment Care: Water generously and frequently through the warm months, as this plant will not flower well under moisture stress. Feed heavily with a complete fertiliser in spring and again in mid summer, and cut spent flowering canes to the ground once the bracts finish, since each cane flowers only once.
Plant Details
Height: 2 to 3.5m
Width: 1.5 to 3m, spreading as the clump matures
Growth Rate: Fast in warm conditions
Foliage: Evergreen in frost free climates
Light: Part shade to filtered sun, with protection from hot dry wind
Native to: North western South America, including Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia
Flower Colour: Scarlet red bracts tipped with yellow and green
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







