Saintpaulia [SEP] parent taxon
Saintpaulia
Saintpaulia, commonly known as African violet, is a genus of 6–20 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa. Typically the African violet is a common household indoor plant but can also be an outdoor plant.
Several of the species and subspecies are endangered, and many more are threatened, due to their native cloud forest habitats being cleared for agriculture. The conservation status of Saintpaulia ionantha has been classed as near-threatened.
Description
capsule releasing minute seeds when mature.
This species' showy flowers led to its being used as a parent in a spate of hybridisation starting in 1886, and resulting in a multitude of descendants with larger flowers and a wider range of colours. Both "S. rexii" and its hybrids proved to need little pampering in the gardens of Europe and the United States, making them perennially popular. Their resistance to dry conditions makes them ideal subjects for hanging baskets in greenhouses. As in the sister genus of "Saintpaulia"