Streptocarpus fenestra-dei is the Latinized species name of the locality at which it occurs, called God’s Window, on the Mpumalanga Province escarpment of South Africa. This is a spectacular high altitude viewpoint, safeguarded for humans by a railing, from which the low lying area to the east, towards the Kruger National Park and the country of Mozambique on a clear day, can be viewed.
Streptocarpus fenestra-dei grows in a small area at the edge of the escarpment, probably also on the cliffs below. The area in which it occurs only extends for about 200 square meters at most at this viewpoint. The area is regularly drenched by rain by the moist clouds coming from the east as a result of which a very moist habitat is created. The species even survives epiphytically on low tree trunks as a result. Streptocarpus micranthus occurs sympatrically with this species, but many other moisture-loving plants such as orchids and the endemic Clivia caulescens also occur at this locality.
Streptocarpus fenestra-dei is a member of the Streptocarpus cyaneus group as previously recognized by Hilliard & Burtt (1971) but raised to species rank by Weigend and Edwards in 1994. It is a typical rosulate species with leaves which grow quite large (350 -450 x 90 – 125 mm) due to the consistent high summer rainfall at this specific site. During the cold winter, which can be below freezing, their leaves abscise and die back.
The species is quite floriferous with many flowers open at the same time, around 12-15 per peduncle. Depending on how many leaves a plant may possess, this means that one plant can possess many flowers. The flowers are tube-shaped and flared (30-35 mm long), but relatively short tubed (20 -25 mm long). The flower colour is uniformly clear white with yellow markings and mauve lines on the base of the corolla.
- A white-flowered plant also growing on a tree
- A cluster of plants out of flower, growing in the mossy bark of a tree
- Plants growing on a vertical rock wall
- The species has significant variation in flower markings, as illustrated in this set of four flowers
- God’s Window, South Africa, from whence the species gets it’s name
