African Violet

Pale purple flowers with a darker heart

The genus Saintpaulia includes six species of plants with attractive flowers that occur as endemics in East Africa. Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire, was working for the German East African Society, discovered this genus, which was later (in 1893) named after him. Saintpaulina schumenis was described in 1955 by B.L. Burtt in the journal of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh, which still houses a large collection of the Gesneriaceae today.

This species has a rosette of round, toothed, hairy leaves and fairly small pale purple flowers with a slightly darker heart. The African violet has experienced an unprecedented rise as a house plant, there are on average more than 2000 known cultivars in all forms and colours of both leaves and flowers – mostly selections of the species Saintpaulina ionanthe.

Saintpaulina belongs to the family Gesneriaceae together with more well known house plants. African violets are very easy to propagate – this can be done by placing small pieces of leaf on the soil and allowing them to root.

Ecology and habit

In the wild the species Saintpaulia shumensis is very rare and only grows at a couple of sites in the mountains of Tanzania, in Shume in the West Usambara Mountains and in the more northerly Nguru Mountains. This is called a disjunct (widely separated) distribution. The species grows on rocks, in crevices and open areas in mountain forests at an altitude of between 1300 – 2000 m.

Threat

Since the species is known from only five sites, it is under threat from decreasing habitat. It is possible that a not fully described population in eastern Nusambara also belong to this species. If this is so, it would reduce the threat somewhat.