Beautiful gloxinia

Family Gesneriaceae. Occurs on rocky moist mountain slopes in southern Brazil.

Perennial herbaceous plants up to 20 cm tall, with a tuber (tuberous rhizome); shoots absent or short. Leaves ovate, slightly cordate at the base, densely hairy-pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers large, nearly bell-shaped, 4–5 cm long, up to 5–6 cm wide at the throat, with serrated margins. Blooms abundantly in summer.

In cultivation, garden cultivars bred by crossing S. speciosa with its forms: var. albiflora, var. rubra, var. caulescens, as well as with S. regina Sprague, have become widely grown. At present, all the cultivar diversity in ornamental horticulture is known under the name S. speciosa; they are often called tropical gloxinias. Cultivars differ in flower size and color — from white to red, lilac and bicolored.