African violets are one of the world’s most popular houseplants and for good reason. These compact, low-growing plants flower several times a year, and they are available in a multitude of leaf forms and colors.
African voilets are small houseplants that produce clusters of white, blue, or purple flowers over fuzzy leaves. Here’s how to care for African violets in your home!
Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia is a section within Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa.
Species and cultivars are commonly called African violets (although they are not closely related to true violets) or saintpaulias. They are commonly used as indoor houseplants, but can also be kept as outdoor plants in certain climates.
Several of the species and subspecies of the section are endangered, and many more are threatened, as their native cloud forest habitats are cleared for agriculture. The conservation status of Streptocarpus ionanthus has been classed as near-threatened.
