A couple pictures of Columnea in Ecuador. It’s an interesting genus because several members have these red tipped leaves - but only on the underside of the leaf. Nobody really knows why they look like this! They often have big, weird-looking orange flowers, and are sometimes called “flying goldfish plant” because of it.
A plant family that seems to have not as much representation as orchids is Gesneriaceae. It’s likely you have heard of their most commonly cultivated member, the African Violet, but there is much more to discover! This post will cover a few members of this unique and diverse group.
One genus I’m particularly fond of is Streptocarpus:
This extremely diverse genus could easily warrant many posts for themselves. They are extremely easy to grow plants are nearly ever-blooming and thrive in African Violet care, kept slightly drier.
They come in nearly every color and live for years and years.
Moving on, the next genus we will be talking about is Episcia.
These jewels are known for their fancy foliage and flowers which come in pink, yellow and red.
These plants come in many different patterns and colors, and while they do eventually grow big, they make excellent terrarium plants. The care is similar to African Violets although they tend to prefer higher humidity.
The next genus is for the new plant grower who wants something near indestructible, or someone who wants a really cool looking plant!
Here is an example of the genus Kohleria:
These amazing plants are soft-leaved, ever-blooming beauties with other-worldly looking flowers.
This group of plants comes in various shades of red, pink, yellow, and orange. Some grow low and bushy while others grow quite tall (although they can be pinched smaller), but all grow excellently in windowsills. They like to be kept moist (dry out in between watering), have bright light, and that’s it!
The genus Columnea:
These beautiful plants like brighter light than the others plants listed thus far, but are still quite easy to grow.
Their often-hanging foliage makes them great for hanging baskets. Some bloom all year round while others have a particular season where they burst with hundreds of flowers for a short time. They like well-draining soil and prefer to dry out in between watering.
Petroscomea, the succulent-lover’s Gesneriad:
These amazing Gesneriads look similar to African Violets, but their leaves are nearly hypnotizing.
The care, again, is very similar to African Violets, but kept on the drier side. There is so great variation in the genus, so a quick search online is definitely worth your time!
The last genus we will be talking about is Sinningia:
This genus is WAY too big and WAY too variable to cover in one post, but I will try to give you an idea of what these plants are like.
This genus contains the famous ‘florist’s gloxinia’ which is properly named Sinningia speciosa. Many plants in the group such as the one above have a dormant season where they lose their foliage and live as a tuber in the ground while others lack this dormant period and grow all year.
Because of the variability, this post can’t really serve as a general care sheet. Some like full sun while others can thrive in a north-facing window. If you’re interested in growing these plants, a quick search on specific plants is your best bet.
Plants like the one listed above (Sinningia eumorpha) do excellent as a house plants. Also I don’t have pictures, but miniature Sinningias are excellent house plants, and are smaller than the palm of your hand!
To wrap things up:
Gesneriads are an amazing and diverse family of plants. Many, many, many genera of plants were left out to make this post a reasonable size. I also did not include African violets so the post could focus on the less common plants in the family.
These plants are amazing and definitely worth your time if you want a unique houseplant!
