Saturday, June 30, 2012

White Bird of Paradise

A  L  O  H  A !

White Bird by Jefferson Airplane on Grooveshark

" Nobody outside of a
 baby carriage
 or a
 judge's chamber
believes in an
unprejudiced
 point of view. "

Lillian Hellman

















“ May brooks and trees
and singing hills
 join in the chorus too,
and every gentle wind
that blows
 send happiness
 to you.”

 Irish Blessings










  Several of these beauties
flourish on my street.
"The Bird of Paradise tree"
or "White Bird of Paradise

Strelitzia nicolai  (that's a link)

 has banana-like foliage
 and with room
 may grow to 25 feet
in height.

A native of
 subtropical South Africa. 
 her flowers grow
 to a full 12 inches long. 


The first time one sees
 Strelitzia,
she is a bit of a visual shock,
after having become accustomed
 to the smaller, more common
Bird of Paradise, 
with her
familiar orange 
'birds.'

  










Strelitzia nicolai

 Image taken from: 'Water-colour Drawings of Plants from South Africa, Canaries, Azores, West Indies and Two Views of Niagra' by Francis Masson (1770-1798). 
Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London.
Courtesy SCIENCEPHOTOLIBRARY
























  

  Never be haughty to the humble
 or humble to the haughty.  "

Jefferson Davis









 >  <  }  }  ( ° >


Thank  YOU
for walking along
today.

Make my day - leave YOUr comment! 
                            Warmly, cloudia