Sinningia sp. "Santa Teresa"

1. The nature of its leaves
2. Comparison to S. defoliata (and S. calcaria)
3. Feature table

This rather out-of-focus picture looks pathetic compared to the results that Karyn Cichocki of New Jersey achieves with this species.  However, she gets flowers every year, while these are the only flowers I've ever had on this species.

I had numerous tubers of this species, started from the seed provided by Mauro Peixoto at the 2002 AGGS convention in New Jersey.  Every year I hoped for flowers; every year, except that once, I've been disappointed.  Gradually the number of tubers dwindled, as each year one or two didn't come out of dormancy.

The one time it bloomed for me, the plant was in deep shade in the back yard, but plants in similar situations have not bloomed, so I don't know what the secret is.

This picture was taken August 2008.  Five leaves and a sixth on the way.  I used to call this plant "unifoliate", but obviously that's not accurate.  The older the tuber, the more leaves the plant has. This plant is in a 3.5-inch [9 cm] pot.

The Nature of its Leaves

This unpublished species usually has one or more leaves, each borne on what looks like a wiry petiole 1-3 inches [2-7 cm] long growing directly from the tuber.  However, observation of a second rudimentary leaf at the base of the lamina convinced me that the apparent petiole was actually a stem, and this was confirmed by Alain Chautems.

The picture below shows a "leaf stub" on two stalks which would otherwise appear to be petioles.  As the primary leaf matures, the leaf stub usually dries up and falls off, much like the smaller of the two cotyledons on a streptocarpus seedling.

Flowers

The flowers are borne on stalks which emerge directly from the tuber.  The inflorescence has a peduncle, as can be seen in the picture at the top of the page. When mine bloomed, it was after the leaf had fallen, so only the flowers were visible.

Comparison to other species

Neither Sinningia sp. "Santa Teresa" and Sinningia defoliata appear to have stems, although that appearance is misleading.  They cannot be mistaken for one another, however, since they are quite different in appearance.  Actually, S. sp. "Santa Teresa" bears a superficial similarity to S. calcaria, to which it is not closely related at all.  A nonblooming S. calcaria with just one leaf may strongly resemble S. sp. "Santa Teresa", and it may be necessary to examine the tuber or the leaf margins to distinguish the two.

Here is a comparison between the three species.

Feature table for Sinningia sp. "Santa Teresa"