Plant Name

Scientific Name: Strelitzia reginae

Synonym: Strelitzia parvifolia

Common Names: Bird of Paradise, Bird-of-paradise, Bird of Paradise Flower, Crane Flower, Crane Lily

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Hawaii Native Status: Cultivated. This ornamental garden plant and cut flower is native to South Africa.

Flower Color: Orange and blue, Yellow and blue

Height: Up to 5 feet (1.5 m) tall

Description: The flowers emerge from stiff, greenish to reddish purple, beak-like spathes on long, stout stalks above the foliage. Each spathe contains multiple flowers. The individual flowers have 3 large, lanceolate, orange or yellow sepals and 3 smaller, blue petals that are fused into an arrowhead with a nectary at the base. The flowers are sometimes followed by woody seed capsules containing numerous seeds. The leaves emerge from underground rhizomes and have stout sheaths and leathery, glaucous green, oblong to lance-shaped blades. The plants form large, dense, mounded clumps.

Here in Hawaii, Bird of Paradise is a common garden plant and a long-lasting cut flower for tropical flower arrangements.

Classification

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 Aiton – bird-of-paradise
Species: Strelitzia reginae Aiton – bird-of-paradise