Botanical Family · Lamiales

Gesneriaceae

Gesneria Family

15 speciesOrder Lamiales8+ well-known plants

The Gesneriaceae family (Gesneria Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Lamiales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 15 species across 10 genera. Its members are predominantly herbs. Well-represented genera include Didymocarpus, Rhynchoglossum and Achimenes. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Cupid's bower, Nilgiri Blushwort and Sunset Bells.

Browse all 15 species ↓

Representative specimen · Gesneriaceae

Key pattern

Often hairy, opposite leaves, sometimes asymmetric at the base, on herbs of shaded, humid habitats; bilaterally symmetrical, tubular flowers with a five-lobed lip ripen into a berry or capsule.

Many cultivated houseplants — African violets, gloxinias — belong to this family, prized for velvety leaves and long-tubed, brightly coloured flowers adapted to specialist pollinators.

Identify the species

Which Gesneriaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Gesneriaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan

Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?

Glabrous

Glabrous (smooth, hairless)

Pubescent

Pubescent (softly hairy)

Tomentose (woolly, matted hairs)

Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?

Blue

Orange

Red

Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?

Purple

Red

Flower ColorWhat color are the flowers?

Purple

White

Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Gesneriaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method