These plants, indigenous to warm, humid areas of South Africa, can be grown as outdoor perennials in zones 9вЂ“11 or as houseplants elsewhere.ДЄn entirely different genus, Caesalpinia, includes a number of broad-leaved evergreen trees and shrubs that also carry the common name 'bird of paradise.' The shape of these plants and the appearance of their flowers is starkly different than Strelitzia species. If you know the bird of paradise mainly as a florist's flower, you're probably thinking of the Strelitzia genus.

One type of bird of paradise plant is a low-growing jungle plant with unique exotic flowers, a relative of the banana plant, while the other type is a member of the pea family, a thorny shrub or tree that loves desert environments. It may be native to the very southern tip of of Texas, where it readily grows as an ornamental, but some experts question this (see here for discussion). Once those pods turn tan and brittle, they twist and spring open to hurl their contents away, so try to harvest the seeds just before that happens. Mexican bird of paradise (Mexican bird) is native to northeastern Mexico near the Rio Grande. Very different species of plants can sometimes share the same common name, and nowhere is this more true than with the flowering plants known as 'bird of paradise.' Species from two entirely different plant genera share this common name, and that's just about the only thing similar about them. After the Mexican bird of paradise tree has finished blooming in autumn, look for 3- to 6-inch seedpods on its twigs. The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.