Happy new year!

We came from here: The thread "Gesneriads Chat 2023" in African Violets and Gesneriads forum

Happy 2024!

dreary weather this weekend... who has blooms to share?

I spoiled my African Violets with some newly purchased specialty fertilizer a couple of days ago:

Maybe it's my imagination, but their colors seem to have intensified in a couple of days...


Even the pink on the leaves is more intense:

Nice!!! I LOVE pink leaves! Blooms are almost superfluous. Almost.

I have grown achimenes for quite a few years now but am branching out to try new gesneriads. I acquired recently a Columnia rooted cutting, a petrocosmia rooted cutting, 2 streptocarpus, a streptocarpella cutting, and an episcia cutting. And lastly one trailing plant labeled Kohleria Berl Lindberg that doesn't look like any kohleria online so I'm wondering if it is mislabeled. Is anyone in this group familiar with any of these I've mentioned and could give me tips?

I have never done this copying and adding a picture before but hopefully this will work. Can anybody tell me if this could be kholeria Berl Lindberg?

That is an African violent, Streptocarpus, previously Saintpaulia. So, not a Kohleria

Thank you sedumzz! I knew it didn't look like a kohleria!

Whoa, I missed that name change! Haven't grown them in a few years...

I agree, and I'd guess it's a trailing variety.

Yes, a Trailing African violet.

I bought 2 small plants named streptocarpus that have large leaves and big flowers. So are they the exact plant as African violets or in the same family?

They are technically the same "family", as in genus. The same way a pointsettia is related to a Candlelabra cactus (both are Euphorbia genus).

See here: https://gesneriads.info/gesner...
Scroll to the bottom and click on all these Streptocarpus types:
-- Streptocarpus section saintpaulia
-- Streptocarpus subgenus streptocarpella
--Streptocarpus subgenus streptocarpus

I bought 2 small plants named streptocarpus that have large leaves and big flowers. So are they the exact plant as African violets or in the same family?

Thank you Rick for your clear explanation! That is what I needed..

Thanks!

Any idea why saintpaulia is a "section" under genus Streptocarpus, while streptocarpus and streptocarpella are "subgenus" classifications? I don't think I've come across the use of the term "section" before in classification.

Found an explanation here: https://www.dutchbulbs.com/?p=...

Apparently, genus Streptocarpus has "historically" consisted of 2 subgerera, so we Afrrican Violets were moved into the same genus, "they" decided they couldn't add a 3rd subgenus. Clear as mud!

Yeah... no.
Subgenus and Section are taxonomic rankings based on how much they differ from the the taxonomic rank above it. Subrankings differ less (as in from genus to subgenus) compare to full rankings (as in from genus to section).

So the difference between the the general genus Streptocarpus and section saintpaulia is greater than the difference between the general genus Streptocarpus and the subgenera streptocarpus or streptocarpella.

Think of if this way: the difference between a human and an orangatan is greater than the difference between a human and a chimpanzee.

Not that you really want to know all the particulars, but if you do, this is part of what I put together for taxonomy talks I do:


and an example:

actually, those particulars are EXACTLY what I wanted to know -- thank you!

I don't recall coming across "section" before... it is one of the many many things I've forgotten over the past 30 years, or is it a classification that was added in 2018? Granted, I also had a lot more animal phylogeny floating around my ears than plant, and maybe "section" is a plant thing.

I did look up Meconopsis and discovered it's the genus of the Himilayan Blue poppy that soem folks around here are obsessed with trying to grow (trying being the operative word given our summer heat and humidity).

All I can say is that at the first convening of the International Botanical Congress, "section" (sectio) was enshrined in the first International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (the Paris Code) in 1956. it was certainly in use long before that.

Zoology generally follows the same rules, but sometimes not.

OK, then it's either not a zoology term or it's just one I somehow missed, or (more likely) forgot! Thanks