The Strelitziaceae comprise a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...

ous

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, very similar in appearance and growth habit to members of the related families

Heliconiaceae ''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku in Indonesi ...

and

Musaceae Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves w ...

(

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

family). The three genera with seven species of Strelitziaceae have been included in Musaceae in some classifications, but are generally recognized as a separate family in more recent treatments such as the

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly Molecular phylogenetics, molecular-based, list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy that ...

(2003). The APG II system assigns the Strelitziaceae to the order

Zingiberales The Zingiberales are flowering plants forming one of four orders in the commelinids clade of monocots, together with its sister order, Commelinales. The order includes 68 genera and 2,600 species. Zingiberales are a unique though morpholog ...

in the

commelinid In plant taxonomy, commelinids (originally commelinoids) is a clade of flowering plants within the monocots, distinguished by having cell walls containing ferulic acid. Well-known commelinids include palms and relatives (order Arecales), day ...

clade.

Taxonomy

The Strelitziaceae include three

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, all occurring in tropical to subtropical regions: ''

Strelitzia ''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 bird ...

'' with five species in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, ''

Ravenala ''Ravenala'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants. Classically, the genus was considered to include a single species, ''Ravenala madagascariensis'' from Madagascar. Taxonomy Species of the genus ''Ravenala'' are not true palms (famil ...

'' with a single species in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and ''

Phenakospermum ''Phenakospermum'' is a monotypic genus in the family Strelitziaceae. Only one species is recognized, ''Phenakospermum guyannense'', native to Suriname, French Guiana and the eastern Amazon River basin. This plant grows to over in height but ca ...

'' with a single species in northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The best-known species is the bird-of-paradise flower ''

Strelitzia reginae ''Strelitzia reginae'', commonly known as the crane flower, bird of paradise, or in Nguni, is a species of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm i ...

'', grown for its flowers worldwide in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s, and a well-known flower in

floristry Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers ...

. The other species of ''

'' have less colourful flowers and are grown instead for their striking foliage. Also grown for its foliage is the traveller's tree, ''

Ravenala madagascariensis ''Ravenala madagascariensis'', commonly known as the traveller's tree, traveller's palm or East-West palm, is a species of monocotyledonous flowering plant found in Madagascar. It is not a true palm but a member of the family Strelitziaceae. N ...

''.

References

Bibliography

External links

Strelitziaceae
in Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards)

Version 7, May 2006 nd more or less continuously updated since * * {{Authority control Commelinid families Taxa named by John Hutchinson (botanist)