Strelitzia caudata, commonly known as the mountain strelitzia or wild banana, is a species of banana-like Strelitzia from Africa from the Chimanimani Mountains of Zimbabwe south to Mozambique, the Northern Provinces of South Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland).[1] It is one of three large banana-like Strelitzia species, all of which are native to southern Africa,[2] the other two being S. alba and S. nicolai.
| Mountain strelitzia | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Zingiberales |
| Family: | Strelitziaceae |
| Genus: | Strelitzia |
| Species: | S. caudata
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| Binomial name | |
| Strelitzia caudata | |
Description
editGrowing up to 8 metres tall, it has a leafless woody stem and has a fan shaped crown. The leaves are 2 by 0.6m, greyish-green in colour and are arranged in two vertical ranks. The seeds are black with a tuft of bright orange hairs.[3][4]
Taxonomy
editStrelitzia caudata was first described in 1946 by Robert Allen Dyer in Flowering Plants of Africa , Volume 25, Plate 997.[5][6] The specific epithet caudata means "with a slender tail";[7] this refers to an appendage of a sepal, which is prominent in this species.[6]
Habitat
editIt usually grows in dense clumps, in areas of montane forests and is found between rocks on steep grassy slopes.[4]
References
edit- ^ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
- ^ "Strelitzia caudata R.A.Dyer". PlantZAfrica.com.
- ^ "Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Strelitzia caudata". www.zimbabweflora.co.zw. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
- ^ a b Van Wyk, Braam (1997). Field guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik. ISBN 1-86825-922-6.
- ^ "Strelitzia caudata". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ a b Dyer, R.A. (1946). "Plate 997. Strelitzia caudata". The flowering plants of South Africa. 25. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
- ^ Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). "caudata". Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4.
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