Blue-chinned Sapphires feed on insects and nectar, mainly in trees but sometimes on vines or smaller plants like Heliconia.
The larvae feed on Musa and Heliconia species and can be a pest for banana cultivation.
The larvae of subspecies sulanus have been recorded on Heliconia, Calathea, and Musa species.
The Honduran white bat cuts the side veins extending out from the midrib of the large leave of the Heliconia plant causing them to fold down to form a 'tent'.
These bats cling head—up to the smooth inner, ventral surfaces of the rolled up leaves with openings at the top, of Heliconia, sometimes Calathea, as well as other similar plants, using their adhesive disks.
The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley borders with the municipalities of Ebejico, Heliconia, Angelopolis and Amagá to the west, with the municipalities of Santa Barbara and Fredonia to the south.
Like other hermits, this Barbthroat visits widely separated flowers including: Heliconia, Costus spiral gingers, and bananas, and the male is less aggressively territorial than other male hummingbirds.
The gardens also has a large collection of native and introduced tropical plants including cycads, palms, Adansonia, gingers and heliconias.
Tropical house - Collections include Ananas comosus, Annona muricata, bromeliads, Caryota mitis, Cocos nucifera, Coffea arabica, cycads (including a Dioon spinulosum given by Smith College in the 1920s), Heliconia vellerigera, Kigelia pinnata, Musa, orchids, Oryza sativa, Piper nigrum, Rhizophora mangle, and Theobroma cacao.