Strelitzia reginae Banks


Family: STRELITZIACEAE
Sub-Family: Not available
English Name: Bird of Paradise
Synonym: Strelitzia humilis Link
Common Name: Crane flower
Flowering & Fruiting Period: May - December
Distribution: Native to South Africa
Habitat: Grown as garden plant
Uses: Ornamental garden plant
Key Characteristics: The crane flower is a tufted, evergreen, acaulescent (stemless) perennial herb up to. The roots are fleshy and finger-like. The leaves are distichous (opposite and arranged fan-like in one plane), banana-like and the margins can sometimes be red-edged. The inflorescence stalk with 4-6 flowers that emerge in succession in a boat-shaped spathe, producing a mucilaginous substance when in bloom. The flowers have orange sepals and blue/purple petals. The fruit is a hard woody capsule that splits from the apex in summer. The seeds are round, black to brown in colour with a yellow aril (a tuft of hairs).