[5] When wild-collected plants began to flower in the greenhouse at Kirstenbosch, they were noted to have white, rather than the typical blue inner petals.

This is placed perpendicular to the stem, which gives it the appearance of a bird's head and beak; it makes a durable perch for holding the sunbirds which pollinate the flowers.

The flowers, which emerge one at a time from the spathe, consist of three orange sepals and three purplish-blue or white petals.

When the sunbirds sit to drink the nectar, the third petal opens to release the anther and cover their feet in pollen.

It is a common ornamental plant in Southern California, and has been chosen as the official flower of City of Los Angeles.

[9][10] In areas with cold winters it is normally grown under glass, in a cool sunny position such as a greenhouse or conservatory, as it tolerates only light frosts[11] and does not grow well in temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F).

[12][13] It is a low-maintenance plant that is easy to grow in the garden; it is fairly tolerant of soil conditions and needs little water once established.

[15] Bird-of-paradise plants have an OPALS allergy scale rating of 1, and are considered "allergy-fighting"; they produce no airborne pollen.