Bird of paradise
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called bird of paradise flower, Bird of paradise plant, Bird's Tongue Flower, canna-leaved strelitzia and crane flower.
Bird of paradise is toxic
- Toxic to cats. Toxic principle: GI irritants. Clinical signs: Mild nausea, vomiting, drowsiness; caused mainly by fruit and seeds Should not be confused with Caesalpinia or Poinciana gilliesii, which is also known as Bird of Paradise and is more toxic. ASPCA
- Toxic to dogs. Toxic principle: GI irritants. Clinical signs: Mild nausea, vomiting, drowsiness; caused mainly by fruit and seeds Should not be confused with Caesalpinia or Poinciana gilliesii, which is also known as Bird of Paradise and is more toxic. ASPCA
- Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drained or Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- ToxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- ToxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Crisp margins that appear in winter
The bird of paradise shows browning on many leaves at once, all at the margin, with no spots or soft patches anywhere.
Leaf margins are the end of the water supply, so they are the first tissue to run short when the air takes more than the roots can send. Penn State Extension cites 30% to 60% as the recommended indoor range, and a heated room in winter sits below it.
Telling it apart: Whether it crumbles or smears. Crisp is water lost; soft and dark is cold or rot.
Penn State ExtensionBird of paradise brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Faded, yellow-white areas on the sunny side of the plant
The damage on the bird of paradise faces one way. Turn the pot round and the other side is clean.
Even a plant described as full sun, partial shade can take more through glass than it would outdoors, because glass removes the breeze that carried the heat away.
Telling it apart: The edge of the damage. Scorch has a sharp boundary; rot and infection have a soft, spreading one.
RHSBird of paradise leaves turning yellow: causes- Flower buds shed while still closed
Buds appear on the bird of paradise and then fall while still closed, often within days of the plant being moved, turned or left to dry out.
A bud is the most expensive thing on the plant. Kept below the full sun, partial shade its source names, or moved while in bud, the bird of paradise abandons buds before it abandons leaves.
Telling it apart: A fallen bud under a magnifying glass. Insects or scarring point at pests; a clean bud points at a change or at water.
RHSBird of paradise leaves falling off: causes- Yellow, limp leaves at the base
The lowest leaves of the bird of paradise go yellow and translucent at the stalk and drop with a light pull, while the compost stays wet.
Soil described as moist but well-drained or well-drained is a drainage instruction as much as a watering one. Compost that stays saturated suffocates the fine roots that do the drinking.
Telling it apart: The soil, not the leaf. Wet compost under yellowing leaves points one way and dry compost the other, and the leaves alone will not tell you which.
RHSBird of paradise leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Bird of paradise.
Routine care
- Watering
- In spring and summer water generously and feed regularly; keep the plants drier in winter.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026While growing, water generously and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser. Give little water in winter, and ventilate once temperatures go above 20°C.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- In spring and summer water generously and feed regularly; keep the plant drier over winter.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026While plants are growing, water generously and give a balanced liquid feed each month. Flowering can take a few years and happens only when light and feeding are adequate.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Repotting
- Top dress every year and repot every other year.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026In spring, divide off rooted suckers. Seed can be sown in March to April, but its coat is very thick and needs soaking before sowing.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by fern scale.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Mealybugs, glasshouse red spider mite and scale insects can attack it. Disease is uncommon.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.
Photographs
About the plant
Strelitzia reginae, commonly known as the crane flower, bird of paradise, or isigude in Nguni, is a species of flowering plant native to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. An evergreen perennial, it is widely cultivated for its dramatic flowers. In temperate areas it is a popular houseplant.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Cape Prov. to KwaZulu-NatalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Cape Provinces to KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026S AfricaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- subtropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- perennialWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Perennial; habit clumping, multi-stemmedNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 36–48 in; width 36–48 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 1-1.5 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 10–20 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers blue, orange, purple/lavender, white; blooms in fall, summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers blue in spring and winter; orange in spring and winterRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Uses
What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.
Indigenous people in South Africa have used it as a medicine.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Bird of paradise
Other Strelitzia
Plants with similar care
African violetBrown tips on the newest leaves first
Bigleaf hydrangeaA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Busy LizzieBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Calla lilyEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
CamelliaBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Cape leadwortCrisp margins that appear in winter
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.