[1] It is one of three large banana-like Strelitzia species, all of which are native to southern Africa,[2] the other two being S. alba and S. nicolai.

Growing up to 8 metres tall, it has a leafless woody stem and has a fan shaped crown.

[3][4] Strelitzia caudata was first described in 1946 by Robert Allen Dyer in Flowering Plants of Africa , Volume 25, Plate 997.

[5][6] The specific epithet caudata means "with a slender tail";[7] this refers to an appendage of a sepal, which is prominent in this species.

[6] It usually grows in dense clumps, in areas of montane forests and is found between rocks on steep grassy slopes.