Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia

"African Violet" redirects here. For the 2019 film, see African Violet (film). For the Blue Mitchell album, see African Violet (album).

Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia
Streptocarpus ionanthus in cultivation
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Gesneriaceae
Genus: Streptocarpus
Subgenus: S. subg. Streptocarpella
Section: S. sect. Saintpaulia
H.Wendl.
Species

See text.

Streptocarpus ionanthus flowers

Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia is a section within Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella[1] 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. The section was previously treated as a separate genus, Saintpaulia, but molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it was nested within the genus Streptocarpus.

Species and cultivars are commonly called African violets (although they are not closely related to true violets) or saintpaulias. They are commonly sold as house plants.

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.

  1. ^ "The Great Merger – Current Taxonomic Status | Gesneriad Reference Web". Retrieved 11 March 2020.