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Accession Data:

Strelitzia nicolai Regel & K. Koch

  • Common Name: White Bird of Paradise
  • Family: Strelitziaceae (Schumann) Hutch.

  • Country of Origin: E. Zimbabwe to KwaZulu-Natal, E. Botswana
  • Habitat: evergreen coastal forest and thickets

  • Description: Resembling S. alba (solitary trunk, leaves to 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, petiole deeply wing-channelled) but much larger and treelike; inflorescence compound, bracts reddish-brown; petals light mauve or blue to nearly white, tongue boat-shaped, hastate at base, margins turned inward and meeting over the center.
  • USDA Zone: 9-11

Accession Data:

  • Accession # 198500315
  • Source: Unknown
  • Accession Date: 12-31-1985
  • Bench: 1112 - AFR: Cola
    • Currently: active - healthy
    • Qty: 2 confirmed on 03-29-2025

Classification:

  • Division: Magnoliophyta
  • Class: Liliopsida
  • SubClass: commelinids
  • Order: Zingiberales
  • SubOrder:
  • Family: Strelitziaceae
  • SubFamily:
  • Tribe:
  • SubTribe:

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008

References (internal):

  • Bird Pollination (ornithophily)
  • EEB Greenhouse Holdings native to: Mozambique / Zimbabwe / Botswana / KwaZulu-Natal /

References (external):

  1. Hortus Third, LH Bailey Hortorium, 1976
  2. Strelitzia nicolai at Floridata. Last accessed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
  3. Strelitzia nicolai at Wikipedia. Last accessed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
  4. Strelitzia nicolai at PlantzAfrica. Last accessed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
  5. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
  6. WCSP (2017). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

data regenerated on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 11:09:03 -0400 [bcm v4.0]

Images:

Strelitzia nicolai

Additional images for this accession:

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Current Accessions in the Strelitziaceae

  • Phenakospermum guyannense
  • Strelitzia nicolai
  • Strelitzia reginae
W/C = Wild Collected
= indicates flowering in past 14 days
= images available for this accession
= map available for this accession
= accession added within past 90 days
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