Strelitzia nicolai old flowers

Strelitzia nicolai is similar to S. alba and S. caudata, all of them tree-like Strelitzia species of southern Africa.

The distribution of S. alba is small, lying along the southern Cape coast, while the inland S. caudata grows in the Lowveld, eastern Limpopo and eastern Mpumalanga. Beyond the border it also grows in Zimbabwe and Mozambique where S. nicolai is also found. The latter is also distributed coastally in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Identifying these three in nature in South Africa is thus eased. For planted specimens the flowers should be inspected.

The positioning of the grey, boat-shaped spathes subtending the groups of flowers of S. nicolai occurs at right angles to each other as seen here. The withered, dull orange sepals of the flowers were previously white, while the previously blue petals, also smaller, are hardly visible here.

A slimy mucilage, a viscous secretion, is produced within the spathe. This fluid assists the tightly packed flower buds to escape from their casing upon opening. 

Flowering occurs throughout the year, peaking in summer (Coates Palgrave, 2002).