{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Strelitzia larger.jpg | taxon = Strelitzia | authority = Banks<ref name=POWO>{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:37365-1 |title= Strelitzia Banks |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name=COL>{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/8W3VC |title= Strelitzia Banks |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | type_species = ''Strelitzia reginae'' }} [[File:Strelitzia reginae MHNT.BOT.2009.13.52.jpg|thumb|''S. reginae'' fruit capsules and seeds – MHNT]]
'''''Strelitzia''''' {{IPAc-en|s|t|r|ɛ|ˈ|l|ɪ|t|s|i|ə}}<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607, Sunset Books</ref> is a genus of five species of perennial plant, native to South Africa. It belongs to the plant family Strelitziaceae.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tropical Flower Guide|url=http://tropicalflowerguide.com/bird-of-paradise-tropical-flowers.html|access-date=30 November 2012}}</ref> A common name of the genus is '''bird of paradise flower/plant''', because of a resemblance of its flowers to birds-of-paradise. In South Africa, it is commonly known as a '''crane flower'''.
Two of the species, ''S. nicolai'' and ''S. reginae'', are frequently grown as houseplants.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our House Plants - Bird of Paradise |url=http://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/strelitzia |access-date=18 July 2014}}</ref> It is the floral emblem of the City of Los Angeles<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-14 |title=On the precipice of turning 40, I sometimes wonder: Where can one find paradise? |url=https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/image/story/2024-11-14/la-ig-bird-of-paradise-la |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> and is featured on the reverse of the South African 50-cent coin.
== Taxonomy == The genus was named by Joseph Banks in honour of the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017 |title=Strelitzia reginae Banks|url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:798194-1|website=Plants of the World Online| language=en |access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=August 2011|title=Strelitzia reginae|url=http://pza.sanbi.org/strelitzia-reginae |website=pza.sanbi.org |access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref>
== Description == The species ''S. nicolai'' is the largest in the genus, reaching 10 m (33 ft) tall, with stately white and blue flowers;<ref name= Eliovson>{{cite book |last=Eliovson |first= Sima |title=Shrubs, trees, and climbers|year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Yg_AAAAYAAJ&q=strelitzia+nicolai |access-date= 12 September 2009 |publisher= Macmillan South Africa |isbn= 0-86954-011-4}}</ref> the other species typically reach {{cvt|2.0|to|3.5|m}} tall, except ''S. caudata'', which is a tree of a typically smaller size than ''S. nicolai''.
The leaves are large, {{cvt|30|to|200|cm|ftin}} long and {{cvt|10|to|80|cm|ftin}} broad, similar to a banana leaf in appearance, but with a longer petiole, and arranged strictly in two ranks to form a fan-like crown of evergreen foliage.
The flowers are produced in a horizontal inflorescence emerging from a stout spathe.
== Biology and propagation == They are pollinated by sunbirds and blue-faced honeyeaters, which perch on and drink from the spathe. The weight of the bird when standing on the spathe opens it to release the pollen onto the bird's feet, which is then deposited on the next spathe it visits. It is believed to be the only genus of plants pollinated by the feet of birds.<ref>{{ cite book | last= Bright | first= Michael | date= 2001 | title= 1000 Wonders of Nature | location= London | publisher= Reader's Digest Association, Ltd. | page= 268 | isbn= 0-276-42614-2 }}</ref> ''Strelitzia'' species lack natural insect pollinators; in areas without sunbirds, plants in this genus generally need hand pollination to successfully set seed.<ref name=Ogren>{{cite book |last1=Ogren |first1=Thomas |title=The Allergy-Fighting Garden |date=2015 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=978-1-60774-491-7 |page=200}}</ref>
==Species and hybrids== Five species are recognised, although one—''S. juncea''—has been shown to be genetically nested within another, ''S. reginae''. It is possibly a mutation that is in the process of speciating.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cron |first1=Glynis V. | first2=Cary |last2=Pirone| first3= Madelaine | last3=Bartlett | first4= W. John | last4=Kress | first5= Chelsea | last5=Specht |title=Phylogenetic Relationships and Evolution in the Strelitziaceae (Zingiberales) |journal=Systematic Botany |date=2012 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=606–619 |doi=10.1600/036364412X648562|s2cid=17046806 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name!! Native distribution |- |120px || ''Strelitzia alba'' (syn. ''S. augusta'') || White bird of paradise || Garden Route along the southernmost coastal regions of the Eastern and Western Capes in South Africa |- |120px || ''Strelitzia caudata'' || Mountain strelitzia || Chimanimani Mountains of Zimbabwe south to Mozambique, the Northern Provinces of South Africa, and Eswatini |- |120px || ''Strelitzia nicolai'' || White bird of paradise or giant bird of paradise; wild banana; blue-and-white strelitzia<ref name=Eliovson /> || Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Eastern South Africa from the Great Fish River northwards to Richards Bay |- |120px || ''Strelitzia reginae'' (syn. ''S. parvifolia'') || Strelitzia, bird of paradise, or crane lily || South Africa (the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal) |- |120px || ''Strelitzia juncea'' (Ker Gawl.) || African desert banana<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032521/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=267251&repSynonym_id=267256&name_id=267251&status=true&checklist=monocots ''Strelitzia juncae'']}}, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew</ref>|| South Africa near Uitenhage, Patensie, and just north of Port Elizabeth |- |} *''Strelitzia × kewensis'' (artificial hybrid between ''S. reginae'' and ''S. augusta'')
==Allergenicity== Plants in the genus ''Strelitzia '' produce no wind-borne pollen, and have an OPALS allergy scale rating of 1, meaning a very low risk of causing allergic reaction.<ref name=Ogren /> <!-- not encyclopedic, unref. ==Popular culture== {{unreferencedsection|date=July 2021}} The Strelitzia has been referred to in popular anime Darling in the Franxx as the Franxx which Zero Two pilots. The other Franxx also share this characteristic, being named after Argentea, Genista, Delphinium, and Chlorophytum. In the anime, Strelitzia has a white and yellow color scheme and resembles a girl. Streltzia appears larger than the other Franxx. -->
==Journal== ''Strelitzia'' is also the name of the botanic journal of the Pretoria-based National Botanical Institute,<ref>{{cite book |title=Strelitzia. |language=English |date=1994|oclc=478273483 }}</ref> which has since been converted into the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The ''Strelitzia'' journal replaced ''Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa'' and ''Annals of the Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Strelitzia |url=https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/science-into-policy-action/biodiversity-information-management/sanbi-graphics-editing/strelitzia/ |website=SANBI |date=23 March 2018 |access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Strelitzia}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q147888}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Strelitziaceae Category:Zingiberales genera Category:Taxa named by Joseph Banks