White Bird of Paradise Tree

I thought today's challenge would be a piece of cake! We are blessed to have over 50 trees and 15 varieties . It was choosing one that was difficult! When we bought this house we talked about taking out this ugly plant around the pool not knowing what it was. The former owners had never trimmed the tree and it was a terrible mess. We were thrilled when the beauty of the tree was revealed with the proper trimming. It is now one of our favorite!

The White Bird of Paradise tree (also called the Giant Bird of Paradise) is like a cross between a Palm tree and a Banana tree. The resemblance to the Banana tree lies in its leaves that are very similar in shape, color and size. The resemblance to the Palm lies in the stem which is someone thiner than most palms but looks quite similar. The flower of this tree is like a giant version of the Bird of Paradise plant (from the same family) although somewhat less attractive because it is white and not the pretty orange flower of the bird of Paradise bush. The tree tends to grow in clusters with multiple stems growing out of a single base. We have recently cut out several of the stems. Our tallest stem is about 25 feet tall. In this photo there is a branch from an oak tree hiding the height of the Paradise Tree. I choose this one anyway because I liked the natural light from the sky behind the tree.