Streptocarpus trabeculatus is a monocarpic unifoliate with huge hairy, leathery leaves (400 x 160 mm) with very thick veins in order to protect the leaf from moisture loss in the very exposed positions that it grows in. It grows on exposed cliff faces and rocky outcrops from the Umtentu Gorge in the north of the Eastern Cape to the Oribi gorge in southern KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa, a range of about 120 kms. It is yet another endemic Streptocarpus species from the Pondoland Centre of Endemism.

Each leaf of Streptocarpus trabeculatus produces inflorescences with very many pale to medium violet flowers that bloom at the same time (corolla up to 25 mm long) with white and deep violet streaks on the floor of the corolla tube. The flowers are tube shaped with a distinct bend. In some years they flower so profusely in nature that they can be mistaken for Agapanthus heads from a distance. From the horticultural perspective this is a very showy unifoliate, well worth the effort of cultivation as can be seen from the beautiful plant cultivated by Toshijiro Okuto.

• A close view of the flowers on another plant
• A rear view of a flower cluster, showing the many seed pods
• The habitat for the species, in cracks and ledges on the cliffs, and nearby
• A cultivated plant, illustrating the extremely floriferous potential of the species
• A close view of the flowers on the cultivated plant