Question
A few years ago, I bought an African violet with very bright pink flowers spotted with dark purple, like a painter splashing his brush. The mother plant made an identical division. However, when I tried to make a leaf cutting, the plants gave no trace of pink, only dark purple flowers. Have I lost the pink gene?
Answer
Yes, in fact, African violets (Saintpaulia) with flowers spotted as described are known as “fantasy violets”. This is a curious “chimeric” mutation in which 2 different tissues have been mixed in the same plant: one part of the cells carries the gene for pink flowers and another part of the cells carries the gene for violet flowers. When mixed, the result is mottled flowers bearing both colors.
When the plant produces a sucker, it normally inherits both cell types and will therefore be speckled like the mother plant. Suckers, being genetically identical to the mother plant, may in fact inherit chimeric characteristics. However, we suggest waiting until the first flowering to be sure. Caution!
Not all fantasy motifs come from the same type of chimeric mutation.
Chimeric Violets
However, plants produced from leaf cuttings usually develop from a single cell. It is therefore highly unlikely for them to inherit the two different tissues, and they will almost always be unicolored… though a mutation could occur, of course, as chimeras originate from mutations. The genetic richness of African violets allows a variety of colors and shapes, even in this mode of propagation.
To propagate your chimeric violet correctly, you’ll need to cut out and root a sucker (secondary stem appearing at the base of the leaves), never a leaf cutting. Although leaf cuttings are less likely to produce chimeric plants, this propagation method is commonly used for African violets in general.
Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This article on growing asparagus was originally published in Le Soleil on March 28, 2007.
So interesting – and logical, as always.
Fascinating!