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Shrub ands herbs on the forest floor of the South American rainforest are more obvious and diverse. And many of them have amazingly bright colourful flowers. All of them bear berries too. In the rainforest of Africa, Asia and Australia however, shrubs are less striking and obvious. Examples of shrubs that bear spectacular blossoms include the ginger, bananas, heliconias, marantas, aroids, ferns, club mosses and lilies. The heliconia is found naturally in tropical rainforests of eastern Brazil. It has complex inflorescence that consists of canoe shaped bracts that are orange or red with green tips. Inside these bracts contain many small tubular flowers. These flowers produce nectar often a favourite among humming birds and other insects. Water that is collected within the bracts often becomes a mini habitat for many insect larvae. The heliconia can grow up to 6 feet in height and 3 feet wide. MORE INFO ON THE WEB
The ginger has adapted well to its surrounding where light is not a luxury. Down on the forest floor, light hardly gets through the closed canopy. One interesting point about the ginger is its flower. The torch ginger found in the rainforest of Sumatra forms huge clumps of flowers 6 metres high. These clumps of flowers are made up of bright red waxy bracts. MORE INFO ON THE WEB
One of the rariest and spectacular plant you can find in the tropical rainforest is the Titan Arum. Found exclusively in the Sumatra Rainforest, it is a tuber with a flower so big its only second after the Rafflesia. But truly, it is actually an inflorescence with cluster of flowers inside at the base of the spadix. The spadix can reach a height of up to 6 feet (the tallest ever recorded was 10 feet). And when fully bloomed, it can reach a width of 3 feet. The male and female flowers are separated. The inflorescence will bloom about 3 weeks after the bud tips first appear. Its growth rate is 4 inches per day! It basically dies off after 2 days. When fully opened, the inflorescence released an awful smell, serve to attract pollinators, the carrion beetles and sweat bees. The leaf of this tuber is really big. Its stalk can reach 20 feet tall and 15 feet across. MORE INFO ON THE WEB
The hibiscus is hardy shrub and can be found in tropical rainforests of Asia and East Africa. They can grow up to 30 feet tall! The flower is trumpet like in shape and can be found in different colours including, pink, red, yellow or crimson. The leaves are dark green and oval shaped. The hibiscus is also the national flower for Malaysia.
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