Anatomy Of African Violet Flowers And Leaves

African Violet Flowers:

• African Violet flowers can be of different shapes. These include single, double, semi-double, frilled, fluted, star, wasp and cup shaped flowers. For more details on each flower shape, can visit my blog post, “What are the Different Shapes of African Violet Flowers?”
• African Violet flowers can also be of different color patterns. These include two-tone, bi-color, multi-color, Geneva, dark eye etc… For more details on each flower color pattern, can visit my blog post, “What are the Different Color Patterns of African Violet Flowers?”
• However, the basic structure of all African Violet flowers remains the same.

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Parts of an African Violet Flower:

• There are four basic parts of an African Violet Flower, these include petal, stamen, pistil and stem. These are shown in the diagram below:

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1. Petals:

• The petal or petals are modified leaves and form colorful parts of the flower.
• Petals together are known as corolla of the flower and each individual petal is known as lobe of the flower.
• The function of petals is to form a surrounding around the reproductive parts of a flower.
• An African Violet flower, can contain petals of different shapes.
• On an African Violet plant, a single flower can contain anywhere from 5-10 petals, depending upon the type of flower it is.

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2. Stamen:

• Stamen is the male reproductive part of the flower.
• Stamen is made up of two parts the anther and the filament
• Within the stamen, anther is at the top and filament at the bottom, holding the anther in place.

• Anther: Anthers are the oblong yellow sacs which form the tip of the stamen and are situated above the filament.
• The anthers or yellow sacs, contain pollen, which a fine powdery substance.
• This pollen contains the male reproductive cells.

• Filament: Filaments are the long fine structure forming the bottom part of the stamen. The filament holds the anther in place above it.

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3. Pistil:

• Pistil is the female reproductive part of the flower.
• Pistil is also known as the carpel.
• Pistil is made up of three parts, the stigma, style and ovary.
• Within the pistil, the stigma is the uppermost tip, the style is the long tube, the ovary forms the bottom part of pistil.
  • Stigma: Stigma forms the sticky tip of the pistil. It is responsible to receive the pollen (male reproductive tissue) and transport it down into the style.
  • Style: Style is located immediately below the stigma. Style is long, thin and has a tube like structure. It is responsible to support and position the stigma to receive pollen. The pollen travels from the stigma through the style into the ovary.
  • Ovary: Ovary is located below the style and forms the base of the pistil. Ovary supports both the style and stigma above. Ovary contains ovules which are the female reproductive cells or eggs. When the pollen travels from the stigma, through the style and reaches the ovary, it fertilizes the ovules eventually to form seed.

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4. Stem:

• The stem of the flower is located at the base of the flower.
• Stem consists of two parts, calyx and pedicle.
  • Calyx: Calyx forms a cup like structure, supporting the base of the flower. Calyx consists of small leaf/petal like structures known as Sepals. The sepals cradle the flower within it and hold the reproductive organs in place.
  • Pedicle: Pedicle is located below the calyx and is a thin long filament like structure. Pedicle supports the calyx and holds the flower structure in place.

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African Violet Leaf:

• African Violet leaves can be of different types, depending upon the margin features. These include, plain, quilted, spooned, wavy etc… For more details  on African Violet leaf types, can visit my blog post, “What are the Different Leaf Types of African Violet Plants?”
• However, the basic structure of all African Violet leaves remains the same.

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Parts Of An African Violet Leaf:

• African Violet leaf can be divided into two parts the blade and the stalk.
• The blade forms the large surface area of the leaf responsible for absorbing sunlight.
• The stalk originates at the base of the blade. Stalk holds the blade upright.
• The function of the stalk is to transport nutrients and water absorbed from the roots to the leaf.
• It also transports energy absorbed by the blade to the rest of the African Violet plant.
  • Blade: The blade consists of the tip and the base.
  • The outer outline of the leaf is known as the margin.
  • In the center of the blade, runs a thick fleshy structure from the base to the tip known as the midrib.
  • From the midrib, thin vein like structures arise, known as veins.

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