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{{SPlantbox
| name = ''Saintpaulia''
|familia=Gesneriaceae
| common_names = African Violet
|genus=Saintpaulia
| growth_habit = herbaceous
|common_name=African Violet
| high = up to 15 cm (6 in.)
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
| wide = <!--- 65cm (25 inches) -->
|habit=herbaceous
| origin = E tropical Africa
|Max ht box=15
|Max ht metric=cm
| lifespan = perennial
|origin=E tropical Africa
| exposure = bright indirect/filtered
|lifespan=perennial
| water = <!--- frequent, regular, moderate, drought tolerant, let dry then soak -->
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
| features = flowers
|exposure=part-sun
|features=flowers, houseplant
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=Purple_African_Violet_Top.JPG
|image_width=240
| color = IndianRed
|image_caption=a ''Saintpaulia ionantha'' cultivar
| image = Purple_African_Violet_Top.JPG
}}
| image_width = 240px
Saintpaulias are widely cultivated as [[house plant]]s. Hairy often stemless perennial herbs, used for greenhouse flowering, the blossoms providing an attractive blue, violet, purple, white, pink and even green. Flowers can be single or double, solid or striped. "Wasp" type flowers have the upper two flower petals independently fused forming a tube. There are also compound leaves on some, that are called "bustled". Over 2,000 cultivars have been selected, with a very wide variety of flower and leaf colors, shapes, sizes, patterns and textures. Cultivars are classified as Large, Standard, Trailing, Semi-mini, Mini, and Micro with Micro being the smallest.
| image_caption = a ''Saintpaulia ionantha'' cultivar
Leaves long-petioled, ovate: peduncles radical (or axillary in the caulescent species), 1-5 in. high, bearing several (or 1) fls. in a loose cyme: calyx small, deeply 5-lobed; corolla wide-campanulate, tube short, the lobes elliptic, blue; perfect stamens 2; ovary hairy: caps, oblong, locuhcidally 2-valved; seeds small, ellipsoid.
{{Inc|
| ordo = Lamiales
Saintpaulia (from the discoverer of the plant, Baron Walter von Saint Paul). Gesneriaceae. Hairy often stemless perennial herbs, used for greenhouse flowering, the blossoms providing an attractive blue.
Leaves long-petioled, ovate: peduncles radical (or axillary in the caulescent species), 1-5 in. high, bearing several (or 1) fls. in a loose cyme: calyx small, deeply 5-lobed; corolla wide-campanulate, tube short, the lobes elliptic, blue; perfect stamens 2; ovary hairy: caps, oblong, loculicidally 2-valved; seeds small, ellipsoid.—Four species, Trop. Afr.
The end of March is a good time to propagate saintpaulias, when the ripened leaves should be cut off with about an inch of the stalk attached, and inserted in the sand-bed, covering only a small part of the leaf-blade. The sand should not be kept too wet during the process of rooting. Their propagation from seed and general culture is similar to that of gloxinia. The plants may be flowered the entire year or given a period of rest by partly withholding water.
S. pusilla, and S. Goetzeana, of East Africa, appear not to be in cult.
}}
}}
==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==
African violets prefer a constant temperature between 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) with high humidity, and thrive best planted in well-drained humus or coir compost. Most nurseries and garden shops sell African Violet potting soil in ready-to-go bags. The plants may be flowered the entire year or given a period of rest by partly withholding water. Saintpaulias should be watered from underneath, and misting should be avoided, as water coming in contact with the leaves can cause damage.
African violets prefer a constant temperature between 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) with high humidity, and thrive best planted in well-drained humus or coir compost. Most nurseries and garden shops sell African Violet potting soil in ready-to-go bags.
===Propagation===
===Propagation===
Saintpaulias can be propagated by leaf cuttings (essential for propagating named cultivars) or seed (from which new cultivars are selected).
Saintpaulias can be propagated by leaf cuttings (essential for propagating named cultivars) or seed (from which new cultivars are selected).
The end of March is a good time to propagate saintpaulias, when the ripened leaves should be cut off with about an inch of the stalk attached, and inserted in the sand-bed, covering only a small part of the leaf-blade. The sand should not be kept too wet during the process of rooting. Their propagation from seed and general culture is similar to that of gloxinia. The plants may be flowered the entire year or given a period of rest by partly withholding water.
The end of March is a good time to propagate saintpaulias, when the ripened leaves should be cut off with about an inch of the stalk attached, and inserted in the sand-bed, covering only a small part of the leaf-blade. The sand should not be kept too wet during the process of rooting. Their propagation from seed and general culture is similar to that of gloxinia.
===Pests and diseases===
===Pests and diseases===
*''[[Saintpaulia inconspicua]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia inconspicua]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia goetzeana]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia goetzeana]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia ionantha]]''
*''Saintpaulia ionantha'' (syn. ''S. kewensis'')
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''grandifolia'' (syn. S. grandifolia)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''grotei'' (syn. S. amaniensis, S. confusa, S. difficilis, S. grotei, S. magungensis, S. magungensis var. minima)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''ionantha'' var ''diplotricha'' (syn. S. diplotricha)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''ionantha'' var ''ionantha'' (syn. S. tongwensis)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''nitida'' (syn. S. nitida)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''occidentalis'' (syn. S. magungensis var. occidentalis)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''orbicularis'' (syn. S. orbicularis)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''pendula'' (syn. S. intermedia, S. pendula, S. pendula var. kizarae)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''rupicola'' (syn. S. rupicola)
**''Saintpaulia ionantha'' ssp. ''velutina'' (syn. S. brevipilosa, S. velutina)
*''[[Saintpaulia pusilla]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia pusilla]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia shumensis]]''
*''[[Saintpaulia shumensis]]''
*[http://gesneriads.ca/saintart.htm Gesneriad Reference Web Saintpaulia article]
*[http://gesneriads.ca/saintart.htm Gesneriad Reference Web Saintpaulia article]
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