Primulina dryas ‘Pretty Turtle’

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  • Previous Name: Streptocarpus 'Pretty Turtle'
  • Photographer: JD Parise
  • Grown by: Bev Williams

Images copyright by the individual photographers or their institutions.

This cultivar was widely distributed in Europe and elsewhere as Streptocarpus ‘Pretty Turtle’. It is possible this was done because of the relative familiarity of the “Streptocarpus” name. The plant is very clearly not a Streptocarpus, but a variant of the widely grown and distributed Primulina dryas.

Streptocarpus and Primulina are not closely related, with the former natural species distributed only in Africa and the latter only in Asia. Both are widely grown as cultivated plants throughout the world.

Primulina dryas ‘Pretty Turtle’ has characteristic oval leaves with attractive silver markings, which are thought to resemble the shell of a small turtle. It is an attractive plant both in and out of flower.

The feature plant above was exhibited at the 2025 spring show of the Toronto African Violet and Gesneriad Society.