Common name: Bird of Paradise Tree, Natal Wild Banana
Strelitzia nicolai Regel & Körn. APNI* Description: Tree-like monocot, to 12 m tall, multi-stemmed, forming dense clumps.
Leaves opposite, long-petiolate, oblong, entire or broken into ribbons by wind, grey-green, shining.
Inflorescence subtended by spathes; flowers to 50 cm long; with 5 stiff purplish blue boat-shaped bracts; sepals white, petals blue.
Seeds black, with a bright orange woolly aril attached.
Distribution and occurrence: Apparently a garden escape establishing itself in NE NSW in the Grafton and Tweed Heads regions; also naturalised in SE Qld. Native to S Africa and Mozambique.
NSW subdivisions: *NC
Other Australian states: *Qld
Text by K. L. Wilson (Nov 2015)
Taxon concept:
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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