Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World and the New World, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Streptocarpus is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. The flowers are five-petalled, salverform tubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant, while the pointed, elongate fruit is of a helical form similar to that of the "tusk" of a narwhal. In the wild, species can be found growing on shaded rocky hillsides or cliffs, on the ground, in rock crevices, and almost anywhere the seed can germinate and grow. For the home, there are now many hybrids of various colours and forms available.
Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia is a section within Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa. The section was previously treated as a separate genus, Saintpaulia, but molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it was nested within the genus Streptocarpus.
Streptocarpus inconspicuus, synonym Saintpaulia inconspicua, is a species of Streptocarpus in the section Saintpaulia. It is a rare African violet, found in the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, East Africa. It was first formally described in 1958. It is classed as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List.
Petrocosmea is a genus of the family Gesneriaceae, the African violet family. Most of the species within this genus are endemic to high-altitude areas in Western China, although some are native to other parts of Asia. It is a rosette forming genus that generally grows on wet mossy rocks or forests.
Brian Laurence "Bill" Burtt FRSE FLS, was an English botanist and taxonomist who is noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae. In a career that spanned 74 years, he worked first at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and then at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). He made numerous field trips to South Africa and Sarawak and described a total of 637 new plant species. Burtt is denoted by the author abbreviation B.L.Burtt when citing a botanical name.
Streptocarpus goetzeanus, synonym Saintpaulia goetzeana, is a species of Streptocarpus in the section Saintpaulia, commonly known as an African violet. It is a small, flowering plant that is used widely in home horticulture. S. goetzeana was first collected in 1898 by W. Goetze, and it was later described as a species by Engler in 1900.
Streptocarpus teitensis, synonym Saintpaulia teitensis, is a species of Streptocarpus in the section Saintpaulia. It is endemic to 1 square kilometer on Mbololo Hill in the Taita Hills of southern Kenya. The total population is estimated at less than 2,500 individual plants in the wild.
Streptocarpus shumensis, synonym Saintpaulia shumensis, is a species of Streptocarpus in the section Saintpaulia. It is endemic to Shume in the west Usambara Mountains and also from the northern Nguru Mountains, both in Tanzania, where it grows at elevations of 1,300 to 2,000 meters above sea level.
The Didymocarpoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It was formerly the subfamily Cyrtandroideae. This subfamily consists mostly of tropical and subtropical Old World genera, found in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. One species is native to Central and South America.
Streptocarpus afroviola, synonym Saintpaulia pusilla, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania. It was first described in 1900 by Adolf Engler as Saintpaulia pusilla. The former genus Saintpaulia was reduced to Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia, and the species was moved to Streptocarpus. However, the name Streptocarpus pusillus had been used in 1883 for a different species, so Maarten J. M. Christenhusz put forward the replacement name Streptocarpus afroviola.
Streptocarpus albus is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania. It was first described in 1933 as Saintpaulia alba. It is found in the Uluguru and Nguru mountains of Tanzania.
Streptocarpus brevipilosus is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania. It was first described in 1964 as Saintpaulia brevipilosa. The former genus Saintpaulia was reduced to Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia in 2015, and the species moved to Streptocarpus. It is found in the Nguru Mountains of Tanzania.
Streptocarpus nitidus is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania. It was first described in 1958 as Saintpaulia nitida. The former genus Saintpaulia was reduced to Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia in 2015, and the species moved to Streptocarpus. Streptocarpus nitidus has also been treated as a subspecies of Streptocarpus ionanthus.
Streptocarpus ulugurensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial endemic to the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania.
Eriocapitella rupicola, a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to Asia. The specific epithet rupicola means "growing on rocks". In Chinese, a common name is yan sheng yin lian hua, which means "rock anemone".
Streptocarpus saxorum, called the false African violet, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Streptocarpus, subgenus Streptocarpella, native to Kenya and Tanzania. It is an evergreen perennial that often bears flowers nearly year-round. Its "compact" variety has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as a houseplant.
