Strelitzia reginae Mandela's Gold Plants
Mandela's Gold Bird of Paradise

Strelitzia reginae Mandela's Gold (Mandela’s Gold Bird of Paradise) is a rare golden flowering form of Bird of Paradise.

In the 1970’s, at Capetown’s Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, seven golden-yellow flowering plants appeared in the population of ordinary orange-colored Bird of Paradise plants. The curators there undertook a 20-year program of selection and hand-pollination, and then introduced the golden-yellow colored variety to horticulture. Originally named “Kirstenbosch Gold,” it was re-named in 1996 in honor of Nelson Mandela.

Like the traditional orange variety of Strelitzia reginae, the Strelitzia reginae "Mandela's Gold" cultivar is a stemless, evergreen, clump-forming perennial with greyish green, banana-like leaves. Mandela's Gold Bird of Paradise can grow 4 to 5 feet tall and start to flower in early spring.