The bird of paradise is a kind of flower. It is a wild flower originally produced in the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The local black people regard it as a symbol of "freedom, luck and happiness". But it has long been in obscurity. In the 18th century, the British royal family thought that its flower shape particularly resembled a bird's crown and beak. The original name of her hometown was also called Bird of Paradise Village, so she gave the flower the name "Bird of Paradise" (someone later called it "Bird of Paradise"). for birds of paradise). Since then, this new flower named after an animal has become famous all over the world. However, our country's horticultural experts think that its shape is like a crane stretching its neck and looking into the distance. It was also named "Strelitzia reginae".
In fact, it is not an authentic orchid plant, but a perennial herb of the family Asteraceae. The plant is 1 meter high, with a clustered shape, leaves like bananas, long petioles arranged in a fan shape, and a rough appearance. The flower stems are pulled out from the leaf axils and are fifty or sixty centimeters long. The inflorescence is composed of a boat-shaped bract, which is as long as the palm of a hand and is in the shape of a spathe. When it blooms, the involucre is purple-red, the calyx is orange-yellow, and the petals are light blue. The entire flower shape looks like a colorful sparrow gliding with its wings spread. Its flowering period is very long, and it can bloom continuously from autumn to spring. Each plant blooms about 20 to 30 flowers every year. If it is kept fresh properly, it can be viewed for more than 10 days before it fades.
Although the foreign flower industry has developed rapidly, the number of birds of paradise produced is not large, and it has remained rare for a long time. This is because it is more difficult to propagate seeds naturally. When they bloom in the African tropics, a small hummingbird is required to spread pollen to produce seeds, and the germination rate is also low. It often takes more than 3 years after the seedlings are planted. ***It can only bloom after it has grown more than 90 leaves. Bird of paradise is actually the name of a bird: also known as bird of paradise, sunbird, wind bird, and fog bird. It is a distant "relative" to the crow. According to statistics, there are more than 40 species of birds of paradise in the world, and there are more than 30 species in Papua New Guinea. Among them, the most outstanding are the blue bird of paradise, the legless bird of paradise and the king bird of paradise.
Papua New Guinea, an island country in the South Pacific, is the world-famous home of birds of paradise. Birds of paradise live in deep mountains and old forests. They have colorful feathers all over their bodies and huge and gorgeous tail wings. They soar into the sky and look like clouds all over the sky, full of color, peaceful and auspicious. Local residents firmly believe that this kind of bird is a divine bird in heaven. They eat nectar and drink dew from the sky. The Creator has given them the most beautiful form and the most beautiful clothes, bringing happiness and auspiciousness to the world. Initially, birds of paradise were hunted in large numbers in Western countries for decoration with their tail feathers. Because the local indigenous people had cut off the wings and legs when transporting the bird to the West to facilitate transportation, it is also said that the bird of paradise has no wings or legs, and only relies on its beautiful feathers to float in the sky like clouds.
The blue bird of paradise has an extremely gorgeous body, with its central tail feathers extending like golden threads. During the reproductive season, the male bird may raise its head and arch its back, erecting the fluffy golden feathers on both sides; or it may climb branches with its feet. , hanging upside down, shaking out its brocade-like feathers, and kept singing sweet words of love and vows of eternal love in its mouth, in order to attract the female bird girls opposite to look over and over.
The footless bird of paradise does not really have no feet, but its feet are shorter and hidden in its long feathers when flying, so that people cannot see it. It is small, elegant and pretty, with its tail two or three times longer than its body. It is also known as the long-tailed bird of paradise.
The King Bird of Paradise is not the biggest in stature, but it has a special temperament: First, it is loyal to love. No matter whether it is a man or a woman, once they fall in love, they will stay together for life, without fighting or making noise, just forever. The birds care about and love each other. If one day loses its partner, the other bird will never remarry or remarry, but will starve to death; secondly, they are lonely by nature and do not want to cohabit with other species. However, whenever the environment changes, they fly high in the sky and act as guides for migrating teams.
The rare bird of paradise is revered and cherished by the indigenous people in its ancient homeland of Papua New Guinea, an island country in the South Pacific. Whenever there is a grand festival celebration, the indigenous residents wear headdresses made of gorgeous bird-of-paradise feathers, sing and dance, which is colorful and joyful.
In the modern colonial era, the reputation of the bird of paradise spread throughout the world. People named a cluster of nebulae in the southern sky the "Bird of Paradise" constellation.