Bird of Paradise flower
| Bird of Paradise flower | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bird of Paradise ( Strelitzia reginae ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Strelitzia reginae | ||||||||||||
| Aiton |
The bird of paradise flower ( Strelitzia reginae ), also King's Bird of Paradise, Queen Bird of Paradise flower or parrot called, is a species of the genus of birds of paradise ( Strelitzia ) in the family of strelitziaceae (Strelitziaceae).
features
The bird of paradise flower is an evergreen, perennial , herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 80 to 200 centimeters. With its branched rhizomes it forms clump- like stands. The basal leaves are similar to those of bananas and have a stalk of 0.25 to 1 meter long. Their simple, elongated, smooth-edged blades measure 25 to 50 × 10 to 26 centimeters.
The axillary, upright inflorescence stem is usually somewhat longer than the leaves and has only a few leaves that are reduced to the leaf sheath. The clearly stalked inflorescence forms an angle of about 45 ° upwards from the inflorescence shaft and is partially covered by a beak-shaped, approximately 12 to 20 centimeter long bract (the so-called spathe), which usually has red edges. The flowers open one after the other and are approximately four inches long. The three bracts are very different in shape and color in the two circles. Of the three mostly bright orange, yellow for some varieties, the bracts of the outer circle, the middle one is smaller than the lateral ones. Of the three inner, intensely blue bracts, the upper one is short, almost circular and covers the entrance to the “nectar chamber”; the two large lateral ones are fused like an arrow and surround the stylus and the five fertile stamens . The bird of paradise flower is protandric , so the pollen ripens before the stigma of this flower can be pollinated. If a bird sits on the "arrowhead" to get to the nectar, the petals open a little and the sticky pollen is released.
The plants can bloom all year round, but especially from December to May. They are pollinated by the nectar bird Nectarinia afra .
Woody, triple capsule fruits are formed. The seeds have an orange, woolly aril .
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.
Occurrence
The bird of paradise flower occurs in South Africa in the Cape Provinces on river banks and in forest clearings.
Systematics
Strelitzia reginae was first validly described in 1789 by William Aiton , Hortus Kewensis (W. Aiton), 1, p. 285, plate 2. Moore & Hyypio 1970 explains that Joseph Banks gave the genus the name Strelitzia in honor of Queen Charlotte in a personal letter prior to valid publication . The specific epithet reginae comes from the Latin and means queen, the kind is translated directly as "Strelitzie of the Queen" and thus honors the British Queen Charlotte at the time, a German princess Sophie Charlotte von Mecklenburg-Strelitz twice. As an author, one often reads Banks ex Ait. but Aiton, and not Banks, wrote the valid article; the confusion of the car names seems to have arisen with William Curtis in 1790.
The systematics of the species Strelitzia reginae Banks , its subspecies, varieties and the closest related species has been discussed for a long time. This led to a number of synonyms : Strelitzia parvifolia W.T. Aiton , Strelitzia reginae var. Parvifolia ( WT Aiton ) auct. , Heliconia strelitzia J.F. Gmel. , Strelitzia angustifolia W.T. Aiton , Strelitzia farinosa W.T. Aiton , Strelitzia gigantea J. Kern. , Strelitzia glauca Rich. , Strelitzia humilis Link , Strelitzia ovata W.T. Aiton , Strelitzia regalis Salisb. , Strelitzia rutilans C. Morren .
In 1970 Moore & Hyypio discussed whether Strelitzia reginae var. Juncea (Ker Gawl.) HE Moore is a variety of Strelitzia reginae or an independent species. This was decided a short time later, in 1975 by RA Dyer and has since been confirmed several times, in favor of the species Strelitzia juncea Link .
There are currently two valid subspecies:
- Strelitzia reginae Aiton subsp. reginae : The natural occurrences are at altitudes between 155 and 600 meters in the Eastern Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal .
- Strelitzia reginae Aiton subsp. mzimvubuensis Van Jaarsv. : It thrives in the Eastern Cape and was first described in 2007.
use
The bird of paradise flower is used as an ornamental plant in pots, parks and on terraces, as well as a cut flower. It has been in culture since 1733 at the latest. The variety 'Humilis' (also known as 'Pygmaea') grows up to 80 centimeters high and grows in dense groups. The outer tepals of the 'Mandela's Gold' variety are yellow.
At the Easter mass on April 21, 2019 with Pope Francis , St. Peter's Square in Rome was decorated with around 55,000 flowers, including 1,500 Birds of Paradise flowers.
literature
- Harold E. Moore, Jr. & Peter A. Hyypio: Some comments on Strelitzia (Strelitziaceae). , in Baileya , 17, 1970, pp. 65-75.
- Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Rothmaler excursion flora from Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 .
- Gordon Cheers (Ed.): Botanica , Random House Australia, 2003. German edition: Tandem Verlag GmbH, 2003, ISBN 3-8331-1600-5 .
- William Curtis : The Botanical Magazine , Volume 4, 1790, 119: Strelitzia Reginae. Canna-leaved Strelitzia.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b William Curtis: The Botanical Magazine , Volume 4, 1790, 119: Strelitzia Reginae. Canna-leaved Strelitzia.
- ^ Strelitzia reginae at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ^ RA Dyer: Notes on African plants: Strelitziaceae. The status of Strelitzia juncea. in Bothalia , Vol. 11, Number 4, 1975, pp. 519-520. ( PDF )
- ^ TH Arnold & BC De Wet (eds.): Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. , in Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa , No. 62, 1993.
- ↑ a b G. Germishuizen & NL Meyer (ed.): Plants of southern Africa: checklist of annotated. , in Strelitzia , 14, 2003.
- ↑ Liesl van der Walt: Strelitzia reginae Banks, 2000: at www.plantzafrica.com. , accessed on August 21, 2009
- ↑ https://www.vaticannews.va/de/papst/news/2019-04/papst-franziskus-ostern-messe-petersplatz.print.html
