White Bird-of-Paradise

Strelitzia nicolai Regel & Koern.

streh-LITZ-ee-ah NICK-oh-lye

Strelitziaceae

Explanation of name: Modified from BA1: “Strelitzia Reginae: dedicated to Queen Charlotte Sophia, of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III. The specific epithet refers to: “Grand Duke Nicolai Nicolajewitsch, patron of gardening in Russia.”)

Natural range: South Africa

Recognition: Commonly cultivated White Bird-of-Paradise with large blue and white flower-bract combinations. Plants without trunks, the large banana-like leaves often waxy,  rising to 25’ from the base. Flowers more or less horizontal, large and showy, bilaterally symmetrical, emerging from a blue-waxy boat-shaped bract about a foot long, with upright white sepals, and with 2 blue petals visible.

Landscape uses: Perennial potentially the size of a small tree. Forms a large showy clump with attractive novelty white and blue inflorescences. May not withstand severe weather well. Propagate by division or seed. According to source cited below, seeds may require 18 months to germinate.

Internet source: http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week063.shtml

Also see UFST604