A variable evergreen clumping slightly waxy blue-green perennial mostly 1-1.5 m tall but of various sizes. Leaves to about 1.5 m long; blade oblong-lanceolate, to about 40 cm long, 20 cm wide; stalk to 1 m long, not grooved. Flowers produced in succession from a single green or purplish spathe about 10 cm long; winter to spring. Sepals usually orange and petals bluish.

South Africa

var. juncea (Link) Ker Gawl. Leaf blades absent giving plant a rush-like appearance.

var. parvifolia (W.T. Ait.) Anon. Leaf blades small, lanceolate, paddle-like. [S. parvifolia Aiton.]

 

S. alba (L. f.) Skeels, White Strelitzia is occasionally grown in public gardens; it is a large plant with a strong dichotomous trunk and may be up to 8-10 m tall, the large leaves generally split into ribbons. The sepals and petals are white, lacking the blue present in other species. [S. augusta Wright].

The similar S. nicolai Regel & Koern. is another irregularly flowering species that is also occasionally encountered in public gardens.

Source: Spencer, R. (2005). Strelitziaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.