赫蕉属是单子叶植物赫蕉科的一属，原产于热带美洲和西太平洋地区。本属又称为蝎尾蕉属。英文名称是龙虾爪、假天堂鸟花。赫蕉科只有赫蕉属一属，本属约有100-200种，主要分布在美洲。赫蕉属的一些种类因具有艳丽多彩的蜡质苞片，常被栽培做切花与庭园造景使用，真正的花很小，初期藏在苞片里面，以后会渐渐的露出到苞片外面。赫蕉的生长习性和美人蕉、天堂鸟花及香蕉等类似，这些植物通常都具有草质茎，叶大，长椭圆形，叶对生。小天堂鸟花是鹦黄赫蕉的别名，它的花很有特色，在黄绿色的花上有黑色斑点，很像鹦鹉的羽毛。

常见的种类有下列各种：

Heliconia, derived from the Greek word helikonios, is a genus of flowering plants in the Heliconiaceae. Most of the species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku. Many species of Heliconia are found in rainforests or tropical wet forests of these regions. Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia and Thailand. Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, wild plantains or false bird-of-paradise. The last term refers to their close similarity to the bird-of-paradise flowers (Strelitzia). Collectively, these plants are also simply referred to as heliconias.