Strelitzia nicolai
Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as the wild banana or giant white bird of paradise, is a species of banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of , and the clumps formed can spread as far as .

The -long leaves are grey-green and arranged like a fan at the top of the stems, similar to Ravenala madagascariensis. The inflorescence is composed of a dark blue bract, white sepals and a bluish-purple "tongue". The entire flower can be as much as  high by  long, and is typically held just above the point where the leaf fan emerges from the stem. Flowers are followed by triangular seed capsules.

Strelitzia nicolai is among the few plants which have been verified to contain the pigment bilirubin, which is usually found in animals.

Distribution
Strelitzia nicolai is one of three larger Strelitzia species, the other two being tree-like S. caudata and S. alba. S. nicolai is restricted to evergreen coastal forest and thicket of eastern South Africa from the Gonubie northwards to southern Mozambique. It is also considered native to Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and is reportedly naturalized in eastern Mexico (State of Veracruz).

Cultivation
Strelitzia nicolai is commonly grown both indoors and outdoors as well, in the case of warmer climates. 

It prefers rich, moist soils with good drainage in full sun to part shade. The plant tolerates light frost. Propagation is via division of clumps, offsets and from seed. Plants require many years of growth before they begin blooming. In favourable conditions they self-seed freely, and their invasive root systems are best kept away from buildings.

Gallery

References

 Botanicas' Annuals & Perennials, Random House, Sydney, 2005

Strelitziaceae
Flora of Botswana
Flora of KwaZulu-Natal
Flora of Mozambique
Flora of Zimbabwe
Taxa named by Eduard August von Regel
Taxa named by Friedrich August Körnicke