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A pretty species that could possibly be cold hardy. I have planted it in the Agave house where the cold is not usually severe though it might be too dry. I bought it from Dibleys and their Catalogue entry says: "A medium sized plant with broad leaves. The white flowers have a silvery sheen on the lobes. The throat is purple with two very distinct yellow bars. This is another species with honey scent." Plantzafrica says: "A lovely, neat, pretty species of Streptocarpus that has flat-growing, rough leaves and delicate flowing stems presenting white flowers with a violet blush and two light yellow stripes in the mouth of each flower. The flower usually has a single or split, yellow stripe on the floor of the corolla tube, with the violet colour within the flower throat and at the noticeably narrow mouth of the flower, varying from being absent, to pale violet, to a deep vibrant violet colour, with speckles or spreading streaks extending out along the petals. Fruits are spirally twisted, slender, pod-like capsules, filled with masses of minute seeds. Occurs naturally in more exposed habitats on mountainous aspects yet still protected and shaded within rock cracks and fissures, or on south-facing rock walls and steep soil slopes in the Baviaanskloof Mountains in the Eastern Cape and in Mpumalanga Province. Streptocarpus meyeri is a plant that is seldom seen in gardens due to its unavailability in the trade and because it can be challenging to grow in home garden conditions. Brian Laurence Burtt, who named and described this species, was an English botanist and taxonomist who is known for his substantial contributions to the family Gesneriaceae." In Streptocarpus, Hilliard and Burtt say: "S.meyeri ia a plant of open situations. It favours steep faces against which the rosettes are often pressed flat with the rhizomes wedged into the hard earth or rock faces. In the Cape, it often grows on the shady side of rock outcrops on hillsides or on cliffs and steep earth banks. It is one of the few species of Streptocarpus with a disjunct distribution. The Transvaal colonies are separated by some 500 miles (800km) from the main area of the species in the eastern Cape. The intervening country has been sufficiently well collected to make it unlikely that this gap is anything but a real one. Characteristic features that combine to make S. meyeri easily recognised are the relatively narrow corolla tube, deep violet on the outside, and the almost regular white limb." |
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| 11th July 2014 | ||
