Ornamental, perennial herb grows up to 1 m to 3 m height. Heliconia psittacorum plant has reed-like stems and long, pointy banana-like, red-edged leaves with a coppery sheen. The attractive leaves have prominent midribs in shades of pink and ivory. The blooms are erect, 9 cm long with long bracts 3 – 15 cm, usually orange and red at the top. The blooms are two to five cm long, they are tubular, orange, yellow or green top with dark green or black. The fruits are rounded, 1 cm wide, yellowish to dark blue at maturity and they contain 3 seeds. It is a great garden and container plants.