Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Strelitzia reginae Banks ex Dryand.

Frost-tender, clump-forming perennial with lance-shaped leaf blades on long stalks and purple- and orange-flushed green spathes with flowers with orange or yellow calyces and blue corollas in winter and spring.  To 2m.  [RHSE, Hortus]. 

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘It is well known to many Botanists, and others, who have experienced Sir Joseph Banks’s well known liberality, that previous to the publication of the Hortus Kewensis he made a new genus of this plant, which had before been considered as a species of Heliconia, and named it Strelitzia, in honour of our most gracious Queen Charlotte. […] Introduced to the royal garden at Kew by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. in the year 1773, where it lately flowered. […] It has been found that when the roots have been confined to the narrow limits of a pot, the plant has rarely or never flowered, but that when the roots have by accident extended into the [surrounding soil], it has readily thrown up flowering stems.’  [BM t.119/1790].  LBC no.1535/1831.  ABR pl.432/1805. 

History at Camden Park

Listed only in the 1850 and 1857 catalogues [B. 421/1850]. Strelitzia reginae was part of a consignment sent from Kew by John Bidwill in November 1843 [AJCP].  This is the probable source. 

Notes

Published Jan 20, 2009 - 04:44 PM | Last updated Jul 31, 2010 - 04:36 PM

Family Strelitziaceae
Category
Region of origin

South Africa

Synonyms
Common Name

Bird of paradise flower, Crane flower

Name in the Camden Park Record

Strelitzia reginae 

Confidence level high