Strange Clear Substance

i don't know what it is called, would assume it is a type of sap, and very sticky, i would'nt be surprized if it is used in glue making lol. this is a fantasic picture, and a lovely plant. did you know that once cut from the plant, they can last for weeks as each time the flower dies you can pull it off, and then if you are careful tease the next one out of the pod with your fingers, obviously very messy due to the sap, but well worth doing as sometimes the pod holds about 8 of them...

Hi Majeekahead ! And thanks ! Actually the clear substance isn't sticky at all........it doesn't feel like sap but rather a thin plastic. Very strange. Maybe when the bud first opened it was soft and sticky but if so, it didn't take long to harden.
I had guessed that if the bloom was cut, that it would last for a long time but I wouldn't have guessed that long ! The bloom is lasting a long time on the plant.
Ok, so I'm confused.........8 of them? Do you mean there are sometimes 8 more blooms in there or just 8 more of the orange petals? I know I've seen (in pics) blooms with 4 times as many orange and purple/blue petals on them........so I'll guess that that's what you mean. If you don't coax them out, they won't come out ? Sorry for so many questions, this is my first bloom and I really know nothing about them.

yep you got that right, 8 more blooms, orange and blue bits, each one is a seperate bloom, you'll see what i mean if you try this. you have to pull the next ones out of the pod - a very sticky experience - trust me. i believe they grow like weeds in autraillia, which has the oposit climate to I do in the UK, and mine always come into flower around Christmas time which is Summer in Autraillia. sounds like you are also in winter obvioulsy in the wild they open themselves, but speaking as a florist, this is how you get them to last as cut flowers, and when i had my plant, i also had to pull them out even though i did'nt cut them, so you may find that you will need to do this as well to get the max out of your flowers, but they do go on for ages if you do this, all you do is when the orange and blue petals start to fade, you pull it backwards - away from the pointed end of the pod. it will snap off from inside the pod making a bit of a pop sound when it does,you will have an opening where it has come from, you slide you thumbs in gentally and tease out the next one, it is usually cased in a thin white layer , you can just peal this off, and then gentally open out the flower. the further you go into the pod the lighter the colour of the flower , so what you can do for a really stunning effect is pull them all out at once and get a really full crest on the top of your Bird and the colours will gradually fade, going towards the point. give it a go Di, see what you think. and yes the sap does go hard, like little droplets that can be pealed off.

Sounds interesting, thanks for the lesson Majeekhead :)

Thanks so much Majeekahead, for the very detailed instructions. I know exactly what you mean. When I felt the bottom green half of pod it did feel hard like there was more in there but I didn't want to ruin anything. Now that you tell me this, I looked at the bloom tonight and I see it looks like more of the orange is starting to come out on its own ! So tomorrow I shall give it a little 'help' I think. I'll let you know what happens.

The second bud is doing strange things........I think it may be a double-header !! The one pod let out a whole new green pod that is growing taller than the first green pod........which is just now starting to release some orange petals ! I can't wait for this one. I'll see if I can post a pic of it.

Can you tell me, are double-headed blooms common in these Strelitzia? I have an internet friend that visits Florida quite often and she seems to think they are fairly rare.

Yes they are quite rare Di, i have seen them before, but usually next to each other on the stem not one on top of the other, so yes please do post some pic's. and when you give this a go, gentle is the key! lol - it takes a bit of practice, but sounds like you have plenty to pratice on lol