Nelson Mandela Bird of Paradise

The Bird of Paradise looks like an exotic bird peeking out of a broad leaf. Although many of us associate the orange vaiety with stem cuttings at the florist shop, tropical place like Hawaii, or California where it is the city flower of Los Angeles, it is actually native to South Africa. It grows wild in the Cape. This yellow sepaled variety is named after Nelson Mandela and is in the Kirstenbosch Botannical Gardens. At the Botanical Garden, the curator had access to 7 yellow Bird of Paradise plants and spent the next 20+ years hand-pollinating them with each other to increase the stock. Their first yellow bird of paradise introduced to the trade market (you can buy seeds in the U.S. from companies like Thompson and Morgan) was released under the name 'Kirstenbosch Gold'. In 1996, they were given permission to re-name it in honor of Nelson Mandela.