Violets are blue … or purple, or pink, or white, or …
03.03.10
You could describe African violets as the maiden aunts of the houseplant unbelievable. These fuzzy-leafed plants most commonly with purple or blue blooms are sweetly old-fashioned and not much trouble to breed. They're lovely, but low key; not showy like orchids or fussy like a ficus.
African violets were discovered in 1892 in what is now the Mbolo forest in coastal Tanzania by Baron St. Paul-Illaire, an bush-leaguer botanist. The baron's discovery was noted by naming the plant after him: Saintpaulia ionanatha. The species name is Greek for violet.
Saintpaulia ionanatha long run made its way to the U.S. and was first commercially grown in California in the 1920s, although the species didn't become popular as houseplants until central heating became regular. African violets need a temperature between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit to thrive.
In the 1940s, uninhibited hybridization resulted in plants in new colors: pink, lavender, yellow, white; and in all sorts of variegation
Source: Worcester Telegram