Fruits can be present throughout the year, but they most often ripen in the summer between October and February. "Strelitzia alba" is the only one with a different set of 2n = 22 chromosomes than the other Strelitzia species (2n = 14). This species was first published in 1782 under the name "Heliconia alba" by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in Supplementum Plantarum , p. 157 The Swedish botanist Thunberg, who placed it in the genus "Strelitzia" as "Strelitzia augusta" inNov. Pl.: 113, based on a species found in the neighborhood of the Piesang River at Plettenberg Bay – 'piesang' being Afrikaans for 'banana'. Francis Masson, who was then the Botanical Collector for Kew, introduced it to Europe in 1791. Homer Collar Skeels gave it the name "Strelitzia alba" in 1912 in the "US Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin" , 248, p. The specific epithet alba comes from Latin, meaning white and referring to flowering. In Moore & Hyypio 1970, the nomenclature within the genus "Strelitzia" was discussed. Another synonym for "Strelitzia alba" Rule & Körn. "Strelitzia angusta" D.Dietr. This is one of three arborescent Strelitzias, the other two being "Strelitzia caudata" and "Strelitzia nicolai".