During the summer grow them in a shaded greenhouse, indoors on an East or West windowsill or anywhere that is bright but without strong sunshine – early morning or evening sunlight is weaker and therefore ok.

Their blooms look very similar to African violets with their purple, pink and white hues, but cape primroses also possess red varieties in brilliant colors. The leaves are wrinkled and thick with a fuzzy texture and make an attractive houseplant all by themselves. Streptocarpus information is readily available, making these plants a good choice for novice growers.

A popular house plant, Streptocarpus, (“twisted fruit” from Greek στρεπτός (streptos) “twisted” and καρπός (carpos) “fruit”) is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae (the gesneriads). The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.

The flowers are five-petalled, salverformtubes, 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.