Sinningia canescens

1. In the wild
2. In the tame
3. In Mike Kartuz's garden
4. Sinningia leucotricha
5. Feature table
6. External link
7. Publication and etymology

In the Wild

Dude, you are right.  This is not a gesneriad.

It is indeed a big chunk of weathered rock in Vila Velha State Park, in Paraná state, Brazil, wherein can be found the reclusive Sinningia canescens.

This park features a lot of interesting geology, mammalian pests called coatis, and (on occasion) gesneriad hunters.  In addition, there are rhipsalid cacti, such as Lepismium cruciforme, which are normally epiphytes, but here can be found growing on steep hillsides.

Here is the 1999 GRF expedition (Hans Wiehler is the one in the red and white shirt) straggling past yet another imposing rock formation.

Somewhere around here is the lens cap for my camera, which went missing and could not be located despite diligent searching.  Camera makers: always provide a tether to attach the lens cap to the camera body.

It won't be far now.  Through this picturesque crevice...

To tell the truth, I don't remember whether the plant was before or after the crevice.  To keep on telling the truth, I was more impressed by the crevice than the plant.  But that was then.

So here is the shy Sinningia canescens.  Not in bloom (it was Brazil autumn, remember).  But still cheerfully growing on a rock amid ferns and what looks like a gasteria to the right (but can't be because gasterias are south African).

Continuing to be honest, I can't positively assert this is Sinningia canescens.  The long, mostly bare stem to the left gives me pause.  I am going by what was written on the back of the 1999 photograph, but I cannot remember who gave me that identification.  Until such time as I receive a correction from my loyal reader, we'll go with what was on the label.

In the Tame: My plants

The most distinctive feature of this species is the "oyster-shell" leaves on new sprouts from the tuber.  The first leaf pair almost completely encloses the second leaf pair and the flowerbuds.

This picture shows the leaves after they have begun to spread, revealing the flowerbuds.  The densely hairy leaves would make this very popular for its foliage were it not for Sinningia leucotricha, with which it has often been confused.  However, the way the leaves are held when the plant sprouts from the tuber always makes it possible to distinguish adult plants of the two species.

The next two photographs are courtesy of Mike Kartuz.  They show actual flowers, noticeably missing from the above pictures (a shortcoming deftly concealed by witty composition).

This picture shows the hairy-leaved form.  Unlike most forms of S. leucotricha, this plant has more than four leaves on a stem.

One striking feature is the similarity of the flowers to S. macropoda.  Note the spotting on the corolla lobes.  S. canescens and S. macropoda are close relatives, as can be seen in the taxonomical summary of the douglasii group of the dircaea clade.

This is what Mike calls the "green-leaved form", presumably because the hairiness is not as dense.  We note that this plant does have four leaves per stem.

In both plants, we note that the flowers have relatively long pedicels, unlike the short ones of S. leucotricha.