Bird of Paradise

I was in Kitami, Hokkaido, this february for a holiday. My labmate generously allowed us to stay in her house for the duration of the trip. For future pictures of Hokkaido, please refer back to my archives. It is the first couple of posts on this blogsite. Anyway, going with the theme of my previous posts, I am posting this picture of the Bird of Paradise flower, taken while I was visiting KItami's Botanical Garden's greenhouse.



I love this flower. It is gorgeous! The vividness of the colour is amazing. The combination of the orange, blue and green hues is just simply wow. Scientific name : Strelitzia reginae. This flower is native to South Africa. Named in honour of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Reginae is Queen in Latin.



Called the Bird of Paradise because the flower looks like the crest on a bird's head. It is a tropical flower, so you can find it everywhere in Malaysia but to grow it in four seasons climate like Japan, you need a greenhouse. It is also known as the crane flower. I think, for my friend Ton, who loves the Japanese flower arrangement, Ikebana, this flower would do well as an eye-catching centerpiece.



Alright, question time. Who knows the name of this flower cause I really don't know!