African Violets

Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia ionantha

African violets

Today’s lab entry is going to be a short one. While this plant is extremely popular and common in the houseplant trade, there’s not much to say about it other than… it’s pretty cute. It has soft, fuzzy leaves, and will bloom indoors year-round under the right conditions.

In 1892 Baron Walter Von Saint Paul first discovered the African violet in the area of what is known as Tanzania today. He sent samples of the plant back to Germany where the plant was determined to be new to science and was given the name Saintpaulia ionantha. Saintpaulia after the man who’d discovered it, and ionantha, meaning violet-like. African violets are in fact not related to other violets, from the family Violaceae, but their flowers can look similar and come in similar colors.

Wild violets: Viola reichenbachiana

In 2018 the plant was renamed to Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia ionantha to more accurately reflect its place in the Gesneriaceae family. Plants are often renamed when new genetic material is analyzed that changes where scientists think they fit within the classification system. Or, they can be renamed to something that more accurately describes them.

While many plant websites say African violets as difficult to grow, they really aren’t. They require light watering and warm temperatures, that’s about it. One resource I found claimed that African violets are bioaccumulators and will only flower once they’ve gotten the correct amount of light. This statement is a good example of why you shouldn’t necessarily take an internet resource at face value. Bioaccumulation is the tendency of a plant or animal to accumulate a chemical in their tissues faster than they can get rid of it. The buildup of mercury in fish is a great example of bioaccumulation.

That said, the term has nothing to do with a plant and the amount of light it gets. The correct term here is photoperiodic, referring to plants that need a certain amount of sunlight every day before they’ll flower. Chrysanthemums, for example, won’t flower until they receive between four to six hours of sunlight a day.

Chrysanthemums

Compounding the incorrectness of the statement above, African violets are considered day-neutral, this means they’ll flower no matter how much light they get. In fact, they don’t even like direct light, and might burn in direct sun. OK, enough vocabulary. One other caveat, if you buy an African violet from an outdoor nursery, check for aphids. Aphids love these guys and are really hard to banish from those fuzzy leaves.

Sadly, as is common with many popular house plants, while they are prevalent in homes, African violets are disappearing in the wild. For African violets, this has less to do with poaching than it does with habitat loss and pollution. It is likely that some species of Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia have already gone extinct.

In folklore the African violet is said to be a protective plant that enhances spirituality. Several sources list its use in Voodoo as a plant that can keep nightmares and wandering ghosts at bay if put under your pillow, or as a protection from hexes and witchcraft if carried on your person. And one source from Barbados said you should never, under any circumstances, put it in your bedroom. Bad luck I guess.

So there you have it, a cute little plant that packs a big magical punch!