Strelitzia reginae Banks

Common Name: Bird of Paradise, Crane Lily
Family: Strelitziaceae (Schumann) Hutch.

Description: To 3 feet, trunkless, clump-forming; leaves oblong-lanceolate, to 1.5 feet long, six inches wide, acute, glaucescent beneath, the blade sometimes reduced; bracts green, edged with purple or red, to 8 inches long; flowers orange or yellow with dark blue tongue. The hard, beak-like sheath from which the flower emerges is termed the spathe. This is placed perpendicular to the stem, which gives it the appearance of a bird's head and beak; it makes a durable perch for holding the sunbirds which pollinate the flowers. The flowers, which emerge one at a time from the spathe, consist of three brilliant orange sepals and three purplish-blue petals. Two of the blue petals are joined together to form an arrow-like nectary. When the sunbirds sit to drink the nectar, the petals open to cover their feet in pollen.²

Culture: Can be grown as a houseplant in a tub with a minimum night temperature of 50F. Propagated by suckers, division and seeds.

Accession # 198500292
Source: Unknown
Recorded Vouchers:
1. Voucher CONN00057512 at George Safford Torrey Herbarium (CONN). Specimen collected 20 January 1969. Herbarium Image
Accession Date: 12-31-1985
Bench: 1118 - AFR:Ground Bed 2 SW
- Currently: active - healthy
- Qty: 1 confirmed on 12-05-2020

This accession has been observed in bloom on:

data regenerated on Fri, 08 Jan 2021 18:00:07 -0500 [bcm v4.0]

Plant Biodiversity Conservatory and Research Core