Hi Larry,

I remember having a thread on this recently - I thought you responded to it too - but it was misplaced (on the gallery or exchange side or somewhere). Of course, now I can't find it.

There also was a thread in the AV forum.

Hi Komi,

Thanks for responding. I remember Chad's thread where he asked about a cape violetta. Is that another term for cape violet? I don't know. I went out on the Internet and found a picture of a nodding violet, which is something he also talked about.

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The Cape Violet that I am talking about looks very much like this picture of a nodding Violet. This picture also reminds me a lot of a streptocarpella. I have not seen a streptocarpella for several years, so I'm not sure if a nodding Violet is the same as streptocarpella. I wish the picture here were a little better. It is quite dark and a little difficult to see the details.

Here is a picture of a streptocarpella that I also found on the Web. It also looks a little bit like what I saw at the plant store today. It also looks like a nodding Violet.

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So, is a cape violet also a nodding violet and a certain type of streptocarpella, too?I either found the answer or I am completely confused.

Larry

Hi Larry. the pic you posted looks like one of streptocarpella. they are indeed still around to be sold, often as annuals. i bought one today for $4.

i don't know about "cape violet", but a common name for streptocarpus is "cape primrose", i think. streptocarpella used to be classified as a type of streptocarpus, someone told me. now it has its own genus name. i posted a pic of my streptocarpus in the gallery. Click the link below to see pics of it. to see more examples, try a search on ebay for "streptocarpus" or "strep".

Here is a link that might be useful: pic of my strep

Hello Mwedzi,

Thank you for responding to my question. I know what a regular streptocarpus "cape primrose" is supposed to look like. I have three of them myself. These are the ones with the long hairy leaves. This plant that was called a streptocarpus "cape violet" had small opposing leaves on actual stems. It doesn't look like a standard streptocarpus. Like I said before it looks more like a streptocarpella. I guess my question, in a nutshell is, are streptocarpus "cape violets" really just streptocarpellas?

Larry

PS Â That is a lovely streptocarpus in your picture!

Larry,
I think the name is probably the invention of some breeder. As you say, it looks a lot like a Streptocarpella. But since sellers don't like to use "strepto-" names, they decided to give it a more palatable one. It's not a high volume plant, so they can get away with making up names in this instance. The same breeder may want to call AVs "Tasmanian Primroses" but since they are well known as African Violets, they can't.
That's just what I suppose happened here, could be wrong...
Andy