Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Saintpaulia
a Saintpaulia ionantha cultivar
a Saintpaulia ionantha cultivar
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Gesneriaceae
Genus: Saintpaulia
J. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Magnoliopsida is the Botanical name for a class of Flowering plants By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its The order Lamiales is a Taxon in the asterid group of dicotyledonous Flowering plants. Gesneriaceae is a family of Flowering plants consisting of ca C. Wendl.
Species

Saintpaulia inconspicua
Saintpaulia goetzeana
Saintpaulia ionantha
Saintpaulia pusilla
Saintpaulia shumensis
Saintpaulia teitensis

Saintpaulia, commonly known as African violet, is a genus of 6 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa, with a concentration of species in the Nguru mountains of Tanzania. Saintpaulia inconspicua was confirmed as a variety of Saintpaulia, of which there are twenty known species in 1958 and noted in botanical journals long before then Saintpaulia, commonly known as African violet, is a genus of 6 species of Herbaceous perennial Flowering plants in the family A herbaceous plant (or in botanical use a Herb) is a Plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of A perennial plant or perennial ( Latin per, "through" annus, "year" is a Plant that lives for more than The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Gesneriaceae is a family of Flowering plants consisting of ca Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south The Nguru Mountains are a Mountain range in Morogoro District Tanzania, Africa. The genus is most closely related to Streptocarpus, with recent phylogenetic studies suggesting it has evolved directly from subgenus Streptocarpella. Streptocarpus is a Genus of Herbaceous Flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, closely related to the genus Saintpaulia The common name was given due to a superficial resemblance to true violets (Viola, family Violaceae). Viola, commonly called Violets, is a Genus of Flowering plants in the family Violaceae, with around 400-500 species distributed Violaceae (alternatively Alsodeiaceae JGAgardh, Leoniaceae DC

Contents

Taxonomy

A pink, just flowering cultivar
A pink, just flowering cultivar

The genus is named after Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire (1860-1910), the district commissioner of Tanga province who discovered the plant in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in Africa in 1892 and sent seeds back to his father, an amateur botanist in Germany. A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also Tanga Region is one of the 26 regions of Tanzania. Its Regional Headquarters is in Tanga. Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Two British plant enthusiasts, Sir John Kirk and Reverend W. E. Taylor, had earlier collected and submitted specimens to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1884 and 1887 respectively, but the quality of specimens was insufficient to permit scientific description at that time. The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are extensive Gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and The genus Saintpaulia, and original species S. ionantha, were scientifically described by J. C. Wendland in 1893.

Saintpaulias grow from 6-15 cm tall and can be anywhere from 6-30 cm wide. The leaves are rounded to oval, 2. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. 5-8. 5 cm long with a 2-10 cm petiole, finely hairy, and with a fleshy texture. The flowers are 2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed velvety corolla ("petals"), and grow in clusters of 3-10 or more on slender stalks (peduncles). A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also Flower colour in the wild species can be violet, purple, pale blue, or white.

Several of the species and subspecies are endangered, and many more are threatened, due to clearance of their native cloud forest habitat for agriculture. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally Tropical or Subtropical evergreen Montane moist forest characterized by a Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture

Revisions of the genus by B. L. Burtt had expanded the genus to approximately 20 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).

Old name vs. current name

Cultivation

A pink, double-flowered cultivar
A pink, double-flowered cultivar

Saintpaulias are widely cultivated as house plants. " Double-flowered " describes varieties of Flowers with extra Petals often containing flowers within flowers Until recently, only a few of these species have been used in breeding programs for the hybrids available in the market; most available as house plants are cultivars derived from Saintpaulia ionantha (syn. A cultivar is a cultivated Plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics it is usually distinct from similar S. kewensis). A wider range of species is now being looked at as sources of genes to introduce into modern cultivars.

Over 2,000 cultivars have been selected for horticultural use. Horticulture is the art and science of plant cultivation Horticulturists (or horticuluralists) work and conduct research in the fields of Plant propagation There are many different leaf and flower types found; cultivars are classified as Large, Standard, Trailing, Semi-mini, Mini, and Micro with Micro being the smallest. They range in flower colour from white, pink, violet, yellow, and some even green, and the flowers may be either single (five petals) or double (more than five, with some or all of the stamens converted into extra petals). The stamen ( Plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp " is the male Flowers are not always a solid colour, but can also be found in the "fantasy" variety where the petals have strips of colours going down them. One interesting flower form found in the African Violet are known as a "wasp"; these flowers have the upper two flower petals independently fused forming a tube. There are also compound leaves on some, that are called "bustled".

Saintpaulias can be propagated by leaf cuttings (essential for propagating named cultivars) or seed (from which new cultivars are selected). Plant cutting, also known as striking/cloning is a technique for vegetatively (asexually propagating plants in whicha piece of the source plant containing at least one 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. Humus (Origin 1790–1800 Latin: earth ground) is the organic material in Soil lending it a dark brown or black colouration Coir (from Malayalam kayar, cord is a coarse fibre extracted from the fibrous outer shell of a Coconut.

Some popular cultivars include 'Amazen Grace', 'Blue Border', 'Claret Queen', 'Dupont Blue', 'Ding Dong Trail', 'Glacier', 'Little Jewel', 'Mini Marina', 'Pink Miracle', and 'Porcelain'.

Diseases

Main article: List of African violet diseases

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic