Instead of petals, it has a brightly colored heart-shaped spathe (a large leaf) surrounding a central spadix. Popular with flower arrangers in Japan, it has become Taiwan's number-three flower for export and generated export revenues of nearly US $ 4 million in 2009.
有別於一般花朵由花瓣組成的型態，由花梗、苞片、肉穗花序組成的火鶴花，有人認為看起來「不太像花」，但它硬挺的花枝、與眾不同的心型苞片及高亮度、高彩度的花色，都相當受日本插花市場歡迎，目前是台灣排名第 3 的外銷花卉，去年外銷產值近四百萬美元。