Difference between revisions of "African violet"
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| − | 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, locuhcidally 2-valved; seeds small, ellipsoid. | + | 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. |
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| + | 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. | ||
==Cultivation== | ==Cultivation== | ||
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| − | 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. | + | 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. |
===Propagation=== | ===Propagation=== | ||
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*''[[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. ''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. ''grotei'' (syn. S. amaniensis, S. confusa, S. difficilis, S. grotei, S. magungensis, S. magungensis var. minima) | ||
Revision as of 23:43, 19 March 2009
| Lifespan: | ⌛ | perennial |
|---|---|---|
| Origin: | ✈ | E tropical Africa |
| Exposure: | ☼ | bright indirect/filtered"bright indirect/filtered" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
|---|---|---|
| Features: | ✓ | flowers |
| Sunset Zones: | indoors |
Saintpaulias are widely cultivated as house plants. 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.
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.
Cultivation
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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.
Propagation
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.
Pests and diseases
- Do you have pest and disease info on this plant? Edit this section!
Species
On the basis of recent studies that showed most of the species to be very poorly differentiated, both genetically and morphologically, the number of species has been reduced to 6, with the majority of former species reduced to subspecies under S. ionantha, in a recent floristic treatment (Darbyshire 2006).wp
- Saintpaulia inconspicua
- Saintpaulia goetzeana
- 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 shumensis
- Saintpaulia teitensis
Gallery
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References
External links
- w:African violet. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- African violet QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)
- African Violet Society of America website
- African Violet Society of Canada website
- Swedish African Violet Society website
- Finnish Saintpaulia Society website
- Gesneriad Reference Web Saintpaulia article
