Streptocarpus kunhardtii was named by Trevor Edwards in 2003 after the indefatigable Streptocarpus hunter, Chris Kunhardt, well known to the Gesneriad Society for his publications in the Gloxinian and distribution of seeds many years ago. His discovery of this species must have been quite a feat because the locality as given in the description, the Mpophomeni Groge, now in the Ithala Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa, is remote and the area is inhospitable. Only a long hike on foot would lead you to this locality.
The area can be dry due to irregular rainfall for which reason that plant has adapted to being smaller and it abscises its leaves during dry spells. The species has been found in a wider area in recent years thanks to intensive botanical exploration by Carel Fourie and Andrew Hankey.
Streptocarpus kunhardtii is a smaller rosulate species which produces typical strap-shaped leaves (120-250 x 40-55 mm). Each leaf produces an inflorescence with 1 to 4 flowers. As the plant does not grow in large leaf clusters the number of flowers on a single plant is restricted to those on one or two leaves. The flowers are open funnel-shaped and relatively short, the tube is 24-29 mm long and 10 mm wide across the mouth, the corolla lobes are 10-15 x 10-12 mm. The flower colour is white to (rarely) a pale violet-pink with a yellow stripe on the floor of the tube. This yellow stripe in the corolla and the corolla shape identify it as a member of the Streptocarpus cyaneus group, although it occurs far to the east and south of the closest member of the Streptocarpus cyaneus group, Streptocarpus roseaoalbus, in Eswatini (former Swaziland).
- The habitat context for the feature plant above
- A close view of the front of the flowers
- A close view of the flowers in profile
- A plant with a flower with a pale blue/violet cast
- A rare bluish/violet pink form
