Commercial Floriculture

Morphology

• The plant is a trunk less, evergreen clump with leaves arising from a crown.
• The species S. nicolai is the largest in the genus, reaching 10 m tall; the other species typically reach 2-6 m tall.
• The leaves are large, 30-200 cm long and 10-80 cm broad, similar to a banana leaf in appearance but with a longer petiole and arranged strictly in two ranks to form a fan-like crown of evergreen foliage.
• The flowers are produced in a horizontal inflorescence emerging from a stout spathe.
• The flower is about 6 inches long with orange sepals and a blue petals looking like a "tongue".
• A variety of S. reginae called 'Mandela's Gold' was released by Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town South Africa, (it was originally called 'Kirstenbosch Gold'. Mandela's Gold has yellow petals and a blue tongue.
• They are pollinated by sunbirds, which use the spathe as a perch when visiting the flowers; the weight of the bird on the spathe opens it to release the pollen on to the bird's feet, which is then deposited on the next flower it visits.
• Dogs like to eat these plants, but the seeds, if eaten, are toxic and can cause abdominal pain and vomiting.

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