Biology:Strelitzia caudata

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Short description: Species of flowering plant

Mountain strelitzia
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Strelitziaceae
Genus: Strelitzia
Species:
S. caudata
Binomial name
Strelitzia caudata
R.A.Dyer

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.

Description

Growing 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

Strelitzia 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

It usually grows in dense clumps, in areas of montane forests and is found between rocks on steep grassy slopes.[4]

References

  1. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (in en). http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=267245. 
  2. "Strelitzia caudata R.A.Dyer". PlantZAfrica.com. http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/strelitziacaudata.htm. 
  3. "Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Strelitzia caudata". https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=116110. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Van Wyk, Braam (1997). Field guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik. ISBN 1-86825-922-6. 
  5. "Plant name details". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://www.ipni.org/n/585016-1. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Dyer, R.A. (1946). "Plate 997. Strelitzia caudata". The flowering plants of South Africa 25. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/63510154. Retrieved 2024-05-29. 
  7. Hyam, R.; Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). "caudata". Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4. 

Wikidata ☰ Q819215 entry