Crane Flowers-Is it a bird or a flower species?

Introducing an exotic flower-bird fusion!

Shiwangi Dwivedi
Weeds & Wildflowers
2 min readMar 3, 2022

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Photo by Timo C. Dinger on Unsplash

This quite exotic flower species is named Strelitzia Reginae and is commonly known as the Crane Flower. You guys can surely predict the reason behind its so distinctive name. When I had first viewed this flower I was quite amazed by its amazing color combinations and unique shape. At first sight, it’s quite difficult to distinguish whether it’s a flower or a bird (or more specifically a crane ) in flight!

Crane flowers are native to South Africa and are basically grown as ornamental plants. In America, Australia, the United States, Florida, and California people cultivate these flowers to enhance the look of their lovely flower gardens. It could be considered as a wonderful fusion of a bird and a flower, being alluring for all the flower and bird lovers! It has been also selected as the Official Flower of the City of Los Angeles.

Photo by Eastlook Photography on Unsplash

The enchanting blossom is also called as ‘Bird of paradise’ just because of its birdie look! There are three orange sepals with three blue, purple, or white-colored open petals that look so brilliant. The two petals are bonded together like an arrow-shaped nectary and whenever sunbirds perch to drink nectar, the third petal opens up with the anther, covering their legs with pollen grains. Sounds interesting, right?

The flower blooms well under hot conditions and the flower pots are kept outsides during summers. They can’t tolerate much frost and don’t grow well under temperatures below10°C. Crane flowers have also been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit because of being one of the most unique and rare flower species in the flora world!

So what do you think, will you add this amazing flower species to your wonderful flower collections and boost the beauty of your garden?

You would surely love to check out the list of 7 Rarest Flowers in the World!

Thanks for reading!

You guys can check out my work on Vocal too and follow my Instagram page for more nature-related facts and fun!

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Shiwangi Dwivedi
Weeds & Wildflowers

Hey! I am a nature lover. We will together explore amazing natural elements present on our beautiful planet. Follow my Instapage https://bit.ly/3ayatAL