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A fascinating history lies behind one of the world's most popular indoor plants. As their name implies; African violets were indeed discovered in the wilds of Africa, in northeast Tanzania in 1892. Saintpaulia, their botanical name, is in honour of the founder: Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Illare, a German colonial official to the then German colony of Tanganyika. The young Baron was an avid amateur botanist and ultimately sent specimens of the plant material to his father in Germany; the Baron Ulrich von Saint Paul-Illare, then president of the Dendrological (trees) Society of Germany. Whether the young Baron sent plants or seeds to his father is not conclusive, but the result was the blooming of African violets outside their native country by 1893. Herman Wendland, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Herrenhausen, named the first flowering specimen S. Ionantha, which translates to: 'with violet-like flowers', hence the emergence of their commonly known name: African Violets. So well before the turn of the century, African violets were being grown in hothouses around Europe. Interestingly, it was eventually discovered that the young Baron had in fact sent two species to his father; the S. ionantha - with a rounded seed capsule; and the S. confusa - with a long and slender seed capsule. Once you become familiar with the myriad of modern day hybrids available - it is amazing to conceive that they all originated from these two wild ancestors that were said to resemble the common, sweet garden violet. (Please refer to our List of Varieties to see the array of registered named varieties currently available). In 1927 a Californian nursery, Armacost & Royston, imported African violet seeds from seedhouses in Germany and England, and it is from the introduction of a selection of the best of the resulting hybrids onto the plant scene, that the spectacular potential of African violets was recognised worldwide. As you learn more about these beautiful plants, it is easy to see why they have become the most popular of all house plants (please see the "Growing Violets" section for more details). From the 1,000 or so plants grown by Armacost & Royston, only 10 of the most outstanding were chosen and named as examples of the first hybrids, and introduced in 1936 as listed below. German seed: 'Blue Boy' and 'Sailor Boy' English seed: 'Admiral', 'Amethyst', 'Commodore', 'Mermaid', 'Neptune', Norseman', 'No.32' and 'Viking'. One can only marvel at the work of the ingenious hybridisers which has resulted in the amazing variety of African violet characteristics to date, captivating everyone; from the classic to the most eclectic of tastes. List of Varieties Growing Violets
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