NODDING VIOLET

A popular house plant, Streptocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae (Gesneriads). The flowers are five-petalled, salverform tubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant. The genus is native to parts of Africa and Madagascar. 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.The genus is defined by having a spirally twisted fruit (from Greek via Latin, where strepto = twisted, carpus = fruit - Greek: Στρεπτόκαρπος), although this character is also found in some other Old World genera of Gesneriaceae. Although generally referred to simply as Streptocarpus, or "Streps", one common name is Cape Primrose, referring to the nativity of several species to South Africa and their superficial resemblance to the genus Primula.

I love reading the signs on plants in nurseries as they are a wealth fo information and often have bits and pieces on them that I didn't know. For example, I always referred to this plant as "Streps" and hadn't heard of the term "nodding violet" - a much more poetic one!

This post is part of the Signs, Signs Thursday meme,

and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.