The bird of paradise is a uniquely beautiful and remarkably hardy ornamental. It is, as you will see, the queen of houseplants.

Strelitzia, the sciency (genus) name for the bird of paradise plant group hails from none other than Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz herself. Queen Charlotte was after all an avid amateur botanist.

But first a little background. Little Charlotte was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, what is now Northern Germany, in 1744. The area was named after the House of Mecklenburg, one of the longest ruling dynasty’s in European history. She didn’t have a ton of education and was married off to King George the III when she was 17. This provided her the opportunity to thrive but also resulted in a great deal of struggle. And she did thrive. She lived, you guessed it, in Buckingham Palace. She loved music. She sang solo alongside Mozart on occasion. She was even pen pals with Marie Antoinette.

Her husband however, was insane. To avoid his erratic and unexplainable rants she’d often seek refuge in Kew gardens, a botanical mecca of what is now the greatest and most diverse collection of plants on the planet. Captain James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks were constantly bringing in new specimens from around the globe. The queens support of their efforts and special attention to the collection is what prompted Banks to name the most common bird of paradise plant species after her: Strelitzia reginae, as reginae means “queen” in Latin. The plant itself however was discovered by one of Banks’ pupils – Francis Masson.

The common name however comes from the plants resemblance to actual birds-of-paradise. The birds have a rich history themselves. The birds are nothing short of astonishing, especially during courtship display. Paradise birds are found on New Guinea, and surrounding islands. Their plumage has been used for ceremonial dress since human settlement. Magellan, the world famous 15th century portuguese explorer (whom we insultingly named our first GPS units after) had recorded that endemic islander called them bolon diuata or “birds of God.” In fact, folklore surrounding the birds often resulted in exploratory crews referring to them as the mythical phoenix.

In the 1700s, the swedish botanist, doctor, and dude who named most of the plants and animals Carl Linnaeus, called the birds Paradisaea apoda, the second word referring to the absence of feet on the samples explorers sent back for examination.

In the 1800s, Alfred Wallace, the naturalist who independently developed his own competing and equivalent ideas on evolution, studied them in great detail in New Guinea himself noting much more about their characteristics than previous scientist. (Darwin published his theories first as you might have guessed, since you’ve probably never heard of Wallace).

All of this incredibly rich and romantic history in a common houseplant, you may own or at least have probably seen somewhere on display. A poetic plot that rivals screenplay with many of the historical figures whose accomplishments we’re all vaguely familiar with. Sitting there, embracing the sun, providing us with oxygen we need to live. To me, this back story, this knowledge is pure nirvana.

Paradise, if you will.