help identifying this flower - 2007/10/07 09:58hi we brought these flowers about a week ago and where told they where apart of the bird of paradise family but we have not been able to buy the pants anywhere and nobody seems to know what they are. Just a name will help as we are wanting to buy these plants.
Re:help identifying this flower - 2007/11/17 06:56Hi Autumngirl ~
I'd say that your flower looks like Heliconia psittacorum - or one of the psittacorum hybrids ( there are quite a few).
Related to Bird of Paradise? Well, yes, a cousin, so to speak. Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) and Heliconia are both members of the Zingiberales group . . . as are Cannas, Gingers and Bananas to name a few, it's a good-sized family.
**edit to add - Oh, I forgot to say, these are often called by the common name "Parakeet Flowers" - so they are a bird of sorts.
Re:help identifying this flower - 2007/11/17 20:29zwaluw wrote: And the difference between them being exactly?
In that photo they look just like Birds of Paradise to me.
Oh yeah, I can sure see the similarity, too, and it would take a real botanist to tell us both the real, scientific differences, but, in my over-simplified way - the Heliconia plants that I've grown, are smaller in scale and more cold-sensitive than my Bird of Paradise.
For a comparison of the flowers, Have a peek at the Heliconia psittacorum cultivars at this site: (the psitts start about 1/4 of the way down the page) http://www.heliconiasocietypr.org/heliconia_cultivars5.htm whereas, this is my big Bird (Strelitzia), you can see how it got it's common name, it really does look like some exotic bird's head, doesn't it?
The individual flowers emerge from the sheath (spathe) one after another making the bird's crown of bright orange "feathers" grow fuller and fuller over time.
Re:help identifying this flower - 2007/11/17 20:39 Sorry - I was trying to add an additional image to that post, and couldn't figure out how to do it . . . D'oh!
Anyhow, this is one of my favorite BoP pictures, looking into a single flower.
Re:help identifying this flower - 2007/11/18 17:34Ah yes, I see now the difference (Thanks to the link you placed). Thank you. the BoP indeed is differently 'stretching out'. I thought at first this was the Bird of Paradise before blooming fully, but I understand my mistake here.
Those are beautiful photos you placed here, Zuzu Thank you for sharing!
Re:help identifying this flower - 2008/01/21 05:09zuzu wrote: Hi Autumngirl ~
I'd say that your flower looks like Heliconia psittacorum - or one of the psittacorum hybrids ( there are quite a few).
Related to Bird of Paradise? Well, yes, a cousin, so to speak. Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) and Heliconia are both members of the Zingiberales group . . . as are Cannas, Gingers and Bananas to name a few, it's a good-sized family.
**edit to add - Oh, I forgot to say, these are often called by the common name "Parakeet Flowers" - so they are a bird of sorts.
Re:help identifying this flower - 2008/07/05 20:37I think it is Strelitzia parvifolia, a smaller cousin of the BoP, but the same colouring. Only the blue is less noticeable. sweetpea
Re:help identifying this flower - 2008/07/09 14:56Definitely a Heliconia Psittacorum. Sold heaps of them at our florist shop in Melbourne, Australia. In Australia they are grown commercially in tropical regions, mostly around Cairns and Darwin.
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Just a name will help as we are wanting to buy these plants. 
there are quite a few).
a cousin, so to speak.
it's a good-sized family.
Sorry - I was trying to add an additional image to that post,
Thank you for sharing! 
