Giant Bird-of-paradise Flower

Strelitzia nicolai

"Strelitzia nicolai", commonly known as the wild banana or giant white bird of paradise, is a species of banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of 7–8 m, and the clumps formed can spread as far as 3.5 m.
Giant Bird-of-Paradise Flower - Strelitzia nicolai Australia,Bird-of-Paradise Flower,Flower,Giant Bird-of-Paradise Flower,New South Wales,Plant,Strelitzia nicolai,Sydney

Appearance

The 1.8 m -long leaves are grey-green and arranged like a fan at the top of the stems, similar to "Ravenala madagascariensis". The inflorescence is composed of a dark blue bract, white sepals and a bluish-purple "tongue". The entire flower can be as much as 18 cm high by 45 cm long, and is typically held just above the point where the leaf fan emerges from the stem. Flowers are followed by triangular seed capsules.

"Strelitzia nicolai" is among the few plants which have been verified to contain the pigment bilirubin, which is usually found in animals.

Distribution

"Strelitzia nicolai" is one of three larger "Strelitzia" species, the other two being tree-like "S. caudata" and "S. alba". "S. nicolai" is restricted to evergreen coastal forest and thicket of eastern South Africa from the Gonubie northwards to southern Mozambique. It is also considered native to Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and is reportedly naturalized in eastern Mexico.

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassMonocots
OrderZingiberales
FamilyStrelitziaceae
GenusStrelitzia
SpeciesS. nicolai
Photographed in
Australia