Strelitzia reginae - Meet the Plants - National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Database

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Taxonomy:

Strelitzia reginae (Strelitziaceae)

Common Names:
Bird of Paradise Flower
Crane Flower

Crane Lily

Classification:

Strelitzia reginae Aiton
Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta-Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta-Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta-Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida-Monocotyledons
Subclass: Zingiberidae
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Strelitziaceae - Bird of Paradise Flower family
Genus: Strelitzia Ait. - Bird of Paradise
Species: Strelitzia reginae Aiton - Bird of Paradise
(National Plant Database. 2005.)

Description:

Strelitzia reginae is a bold structural plant, which forms large evergreen clumps of stiff leaves growing up from the base.

The grey-green banana like leaves grow about 1,5 m in height and the flowers stand above the foliage at the tips of long stalks. Mature plants are very floriferous with blooming time in autumn, winter and spring. The structure and pollination of the flowers are rather interesting. The hard, beak-like sheath from which the flower emerges, is called the spathe. This is placed at right angles to the stem, which gives it the appearance of a bird's head. The flowers, which emerge one at a time from the spathe, consist of 3 brilliant orange sepals and 3 bright blue petals. Two of the blue petals are joined together to form an arrow-like depository of nectar. When the birds sit to have a drink of nectar, the petals open and cover their feet in pollen.
(Kepler, Angela K. 1995. Maui’s Floral Splendor.)
(Liesl van der Walt. 2000. South African National Biodiversity Institute.)

Geographic Distribution:

Strelitzia reginae is indigenous to South Africa where it grows wild in the eastern Cape. Here the strelitzias grow between other shrubs along the riverbanks and clearing in the coastal bush.

(Kepler, Angela K. 1995. Maui’s Floral Splendor.)
(Liesl van der Walt. 2000. South African National Biodiversity Institute.)

Status:

This must be one of the most well-known plants in the world. The fascinating blooms are sold as cut flowers by the millions. In Los Angeles, Strelitzias are so extensively planted that it is regarded as the emblem of the city.

(Kepler, Angela K. 1995. Maui’s Floral Splendor.)
(Liesl van der Walt. 2000. South African National Biodiversity Institute.)

Native Legends and Names:

The uniquely shaped flower of this exotic tropical perennial resembles a bird's head, and due to its brilliant orange and blue colors and unique shape, Strelitzia reginae is know as the Bird of Paradise flower.

Its other common name, Crane Flower, is another reverence to its exotic avian shape.
Like many of our most flamboyant and fascinating plants, the Bird of Paradise Flower is native to South Africa and it was introduced to European gardeners in 1773 when it was part of a shipment of horticultural specimens bound for the Royal Botanical Garden of King George III. Strelitzia reginae was named after the king's wife Queen ("reginea" in Latin) Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ("Strelitzia").
(Floridata's Plant Encyclopedia. 2004.)

Indigenous Practices:

Bird of Paradise can be grown outdoors as a landscape plant or container plant where it tolerates being pot bound.

(Floridata's Plant Encyclopedia. 2004.)

(Information for this species compiled and recorded by Camelia Cirnaru, NTBG Consultant.)

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