Mexican Bird Of Paradise
by Robert Bales
Title
Mexican Bird Of Paradise
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
We have this beautiful shrub in our backyard!!
Caesalpinia gilliesii is a shrub in the legume family. It is commonly known as bird of paradise, but it is not related to the bird of paradise genus Strelitzia. It grows to 1 to 4 m tall, depending on rainfall. The leaves are bipinnate, 10 to15 cm long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 5 to 6 mm long and 2 to 4 mm broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow petals with 10 long conspicuous red stamens. The pods are densely covered in short, red glandular hairs.
It is a striking ornamental plant native to tropical America, mainly Argentina and Uruguay. It is naturalised in Texas, and fairly common in the rest of the southwestern United States, where it is known as bird of paradise bush,desert bird of paradise, yellow bird of paradise, and barba de chivo.
A totally different bird of paradise plant grown in Yuma is the Strelitzia reginae. It is a native of South Africa and is related to the banana plant. In South Africa, a small bird called the sun bird moves from flower to flower, sipping nectar and pollinating each bloom with pollen collected on its chest feathers and its feet.
This plant has long, pointed leaves originating from a central trunk. The leaves are around two feet in length and six inches in width. Their paddle shape gives the leaves a distinctive look. The Strelitzia reginae grows three to four feet in height and spreads by tuberous roots.
Its distinctive feature is the unusual flowers growing on tall stalks. Each flower resembles the head of an exotic bird, which is where the plants nickname, crane flowers, originated. Each bloom has a crest of bright orange sepals, with bluish-colored petals pointing straight ahead from under the crest.
The flower emerges from a long, green sheath, called a spathe. With its exotic crest and blue "beak nestled above a longer green "beak, the Strelitzia reginae .bloom really does look like a crane peeking out between the leaves of the plan.
Uploaded
October 31st, 2016
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