African Violets – Unusual Species

The African violet has long been a favorite indoor houseplant, finding it’s home in many a kitchen window. The mental picture we have of an African violet is of the species – Saintpaulia ionantha, but there are other varieties of African violets. Let’s learn about two of them.

These two distinctly different species of African violets originate from Africa. So many “new” varieties are so similar that only an expert can tell them apart. These species, however, creep, climb and hang and are so unusual that the difference can be noted by anyone at a glance.

In 1921, 28 years after the first African violet species (Saintpaulia ionantha) was named, Professor A. Engler of Berlin described the first of the climbers, Saintpaulia grotei, from plants he found in the vicinity of Amani, Tanganyika Territory, East Africa. Saintpaulia grotei has a brown, creeping stem and long leaf-stems with beautiful, medium-green pocketed blades. Its violet-blue flowers offer a lovely contrast to the green of the round, dentate leaves. It has a vigorous habit of growth and is rated high as a plant that blooms most satisfactorily indoors and can be trained like a philodendron or ivy. As it becomes more widely known, it should could very popular since a house plant that will climb and flower is really something to get excited about.

One of the best ways to train this climbing-creeping plant is to use a wire-type pole frame such as those used with philodendron. The wire assists in keeping the plant upright and permits the side branches to grow out between the cross wires and hang down gracefully. This species may also be grown in a hanging basket in the manner of a trailing fuchsia.

Saintpaulia magungensis is another creeping-climbing African violet. It was first described in June, 1950, from a plant grown from material collected at Magunga in the foothills of the Usambara Mountains. It is closely related to Saintpaulia grotei and differs in that it has much smaller leaves, shorter leaf-stems and darker colored flowers. There are other minor differences.

Saintpaulia magungensis with its creeping, branching stem and its leaves cupping downward is indeed a valuable addition to the genus. It has an artistic habit of growth, draping over the sides of its container.

by E Roberts

Related Articles Of Interest:

• African Violet – The Early Days
• Care and Growing African Violet Plants – Easy to Grow Color
• African Violet Videos
• African Violet Pot Selection