Strelitzia caudata

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Mountain strelitzia
Fleur du Strelitzia Caudata . Elle est tres ressemblante a celle du Strelitzia Nicolai ( Strelitzia blanc ).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Strelitziaceae
Genus: Strelitzia
Species:
S. caudata
Binomial name
Strelitzia caudata

Strelitzia caudata, commonly known as the mountain strelitzia or wild banana, is a species of banana-like Strelitzia from Africa from the Chimanimani Mountains of Zimbabwe south to Mozambique, the Northern Provinces of South Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland). [1] It was first described in 1946 by Robert Allen Dyer in Flowering Plants of Africa , Volume 25, Plate 997. The specific epithet caudata means "having a tail"; this refers to an appendage of a sepal, which occurs only in this species. [2] [3] It is one of three large banana-like Strelitzia species, all of which are native to southern Africa, [4] the other two being S. alba and S. nicolai .

Contents

Description

Growing up to 8 metres tall, it has a leafless woody stem and has a fan shaped crown. The leaves are 2 by 0.6m, greyish-green in colour and are arranged in two vertical ranks. The seeds are black with a tuft of bright orange hairs. [5] [6]

Habitat

It usually grows in dense clumps, in areas of montane forests and is found between rocks on steep grassy slopes. [6]

Related Research Articles

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Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, 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 a resemblance of its flowers to birds-of-paradise. In South Africa, it is commonly known as a crane flower.

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References

  1. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  2. Dyer, Robert Allen. 1946. Flowering Plants of Africa. A Magazine Containing Coloured Figures with Descriptions of the Flowering Plants Indigenous in Africa v 25, t. 997, Strelitzia caudata
  3. "Strelitzia caudata". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  4. "Strelitzia caudata R.A.Dyer". PlantZAfrica.com.
  5. "Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Strelitzia caudata". www.zimbabweflora.co.zw. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  6. 1 2 Van Wyk, Braam (1997). Field guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik. ISBN   1-86825-922-6.