Species
+

Strelitzia reginae Banks

Bird-Of-Paradise, Paradiisfögelbluum, bird-of-paradise, common bird-of-paradise flower

Climate known 50 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Strelitzia reginae, commonly known as the crane flower, bird of paradise, or isigude in Nguni, is a species of flowering plant native to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. An evergreen perennial, it is widely cultivated for its dramatic flowers. In temperate areas it is a popular houseplant.

Text from Wikipedia, “Strelitzia reginae”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Strelitzia

Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plant, native to South Africa. It belongs to the plant family Strelitziaceae. A common name of the genus is bird of paradise flower/plant, because of its likeness to the birds-of-paradise. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Strelitzia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Strelitziaceae
Described by
Banks
Native to
Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal
Wild records
298 in range· 110 open

At a glance

Warmest month
25°C
Feb, mean day; nights 19 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
728mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Nov 90 mm (CHELSA)
Light
18–42DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Strelitzia, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, March to September in the northern hemisphere (September to March at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 728 mm a year, wettest November at 90 mm, driest June at 33 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 7.8 °C habitat night).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Strelitzia regalis Salisb.; Strelitzia reginae subsp. latifolia Maire & Weiller.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Strelitzia, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, March to September in the northern hemisphere (September to March at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (515 mm of 728 mm) falls in September to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 19.8 °C against a yearly mean of 18.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: March to September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 728 mm a year, wettest November at 90 mm, driest June at 33 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

728 mm a year at the habitat, 515 mm of it September to March. Wettest month November at 90 mm, driest June at 33 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 603 mm to 1063 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 52).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 7.8 °C habitat night).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 7.8 °C, the absolute minimum 5.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.0 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 11.2 °C in July (across the envelope cells 6.0 °C to 14.1 °C), warmest day 25.3 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12 °C. The habitat figure, the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER), is 7.8 °C; the archetype table's conventional minimum for a tropical foliage plant (grouped by the genus Strelitzia, which is reliably one kind of plant) is 12 °C, which is higher, and the floor rule takes the higher.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 20 °C in Jul to 25 °C in Feb; mean night from 11 °C in Jul to 19 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 728 mm of rain a year, most in Nov. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 137 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 5.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 35.0 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°35.0° 99th-percentile day (undated)5.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 18–42RH 54–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 137 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 23–2825 / 23–2825 / 22–2723 / 20–2522 / 18–2320 / 16–2220 / 16–2120 / 16–2221 / 17–2321 / 19–2423 / 20–2524 / 22–27
Night °C18 / 15–2119 / 16–2118 / 15–2116 / 12–1914 / 10–1712 / 7–1511 / 6–1412 / 7–1513 / 9–1614 / 11–1715 / 12–1817 / 14–20
Rain mm69 / 30–13364 / 27–11474 / 35–10557 / 42–8637 / 24–11533 / 22–14733 / 21–16153 / 33–12761 / 35–8981 / 48–11190 / 38–12376 / 33–116
DLI41 / 38–5237 / 35–4632 / 31–3826 / 25–2721 / 19–2318 / 16–2120 / 17–2224 / 23–2530 / 29–3234 / 32–4139 / 36–4942 / 38–52
RH %63 / 58–6563 / 58–6563 / 59–6562 / 58–6358 / 55–6155 / 52–6054 / 51–5957 / 55–6160 / 57–6261 / 58–6362 / 58–6462 / 58–64

Each figure is the median across the 137 grid cells holding the 296 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2480:4060 (-34.025, 23.025). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 5.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 7.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 137 distinct grid cells holding the 296 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2480:4060 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -34.00_23.125, lapse-corrected -262 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 87 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal· introduced: Comoros, Bangladesh, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Juan Fernández Is.
Kew's description“perennial” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-33.266, 26.745 · in the densest population, 210 records (70% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 298 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 110 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 11 km away. 926 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 2 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 298 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Strelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginaeStrelitzia reginae

Photographs: (c) Lucas Christofides, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Henry de Lange, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Brian du Preez, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Rafael Silva, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist and GBIF media did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Strelitzia reginae, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Ladislav Mucina, M. C. Rutherford (2006)
Fungal Planet description sheets: 107–127
P.W. Crous, Brett A. Summerell, Roger G. Shivas, Treena I. Burgess (2012) · Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi
Flectofin: a hingeless flapping mechanism inspired by nature
Julian Lienhard, Simon Schleicher, Simon Poppinga, Tom Masselter (2011) · Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
Strelitzia reginae Leaf as a Natural Template for Anisotropic Wetting and Superhydrophobicity
Elisa Mele, Salvatore Girardo, Dario Pisignano (2012) · Langmuir
Characterization and analysis of novel natural cellulosic fiber extracted from Strelitzia reginae plant
Nourelhouda Lemita, Samir Deghboudj, Mansour Rokbi, Fares Mohammed Laid Rekbi (2021) · Journal of Composite Materials
Anatomy of the Strelitzia reginae flower (Strelitziaceae)
Eva Kronestedt, Bjöm Walles (1986) · Nordic Journal of Botany
Seeking a way to promote the use of constructed wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment in developing countries
Florentina Zurita, Marco A. Belmont, J. De Anda, John R. White (2011) · Water Science & Technology
Phenalenones from Strelitzia reginae
Dirk Hölscher, Bernd Schneider (2000) · Journal of Natural Products

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Strelitzia 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media did not answerapi.gbif.org not asked: offline re-derivation
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 56 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.