African Violets can be divided in two main categories depending upon their type:
Rosette African violet plants and trailing African violet plants.
They are defined as below:
Rosette African Violets:
- These plants have leaves which grow outwards from the center stalk in a layered radial/circular pattern.
- They grow as a single crown (thick stem) plant.
- The rosette plants main stem/stalk and its internodes are short in size.
- The leaves of the rosette plant grow closer to the soils surface.
- A single rosette plant can have as many as five symmetrical whorls of leaves tightly clustered at the base of the plant.
- The blooms grow within the center of the rosette.
Trailing African Violets:
- These plants have multiple stems growing from the same plant roots and are known as multi-crown plants.
- Each stem has leaves which are in long in size and which also grow symmetrically in a radial/circular pattern. Since these stems are not strong enough to grow upright, they grow semi-vertically.
- Often trailing African violets look as if they are growing sideways with cascading growth.
- This growth pattern gives the plant it’s trailing /crawling / spreading characteristic.
- The main stem and intermodal space of trailing African violets are longer in size.
- Depending upon the size of the leaf, trailing violets can be miniature, semi-miniature or standard in size.
- The blooms grow all around the plant from each crown, giving it a mini bonsai (bush) like look.
- The first trailing violet was hybridized in 1954 and was known as “Wild Girl”.
