Streptocarpus cooperi often grows in nature on rocky banks in moist moss, as illustrated above. In cultivation it can be grown in a similar matter, on bark or tree fern as a large plant with a single pendant leaf and tall flower stalks with beautiful flowers.
Streptocarpus cooperi occurs in isolated localities from near the town of Qudeni, in central KwaZulu Natal Province, where it grows in profusion on earth banks in the Qudene Forest, to the much higher altitude northerly Drakensberg on the border to the Free State between the Van Reenen’s Pass and Colling’s Pass, where is grows in the shelter of rocks in grassveld.
The unifoliate Streptocarpus are interesting plants, that produce only one leaf during their life cycle. Most are monocarpic, in that they flower only once before dying. It may take several years before flowering occurs. During annual periods of drought or cold, part of the leaf will die back from the tip, leaving a ragged edge with dried remnants of the abandoned tissue.
