(1936) Gasteranthus is a genus of 35 species of herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae.

[2] Numerous species are threatened with extinction, mainly due to deforestation.

This is due to two reasons: For one thing, Gasteranthus species are native to countries in which destruction of primary forest runs rampant; also, these plants do not distribute well and therefore endemism is very frequent, for example on isolated mountain ranges.

Characteristic are the whitish dots on the leaf undersides caused by aggregations of stomata in Gasteranthus.

The other group has bright orange or red hypocyrtoid (inflated corolla tube with very small opening) flowers and are apparently pollinated mainly by hummingbirds.