Birds of Paradise flower

Birds of Paradise

Native to south America, birds of Paradise is also known as the crane flower. The name comes from the appearance of the bloom which looks similar to exotic, brightly colored birds in flight. Each bloom has 3 blue and orange petals while a few variations have yellow ones. This flower is a symbol of joyfulness and magnificence. The flower can also be used to indicate wonderful and exciting anticipation

He species S. nicolai is the largest in the genus, reaching 10 m tall, with stately white and blue flowers; the other species typically reach 2 to 3.5 m tall, except S. caudata which is a tree of a typically smaller size than S. nicolai. The leaves are large, 30–200 cm long and 10–80 cm 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. They are pollinated by sunbirds, which use the spathe as a perch when visiting the flowers. 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 flower it visits.