Flowers changing colour? Mutation?

8 years ago

This NoID violet was bought on a whim from a large chain hardware store nearly two years ago. I immediately fell in love with its large (2 inch) long lasting white flowers and the plant was in continuous bloom for 10 months straight! So much so I leaf-propagated it and ended up with a bunch of babies which are also now blooming.

The original plant took a few months rest to grow leaves and now it's blooming again, however, instead of just single white blossoms it (and the leaf-babies) are throwing a mix of single and semi-double white and white-with-blue patches/streaks flowers. I've heard violets can mutate over time due to the complex hybridising - is that what's happening here?

The first photo shows (rather fuzzily, sorry) how the white-with-blue streaks blossom stems have a dark purple tinge to them while the pure white and white-with-blue splotches have pure green blossom stems. I love the original pure white flowers but this new variation is also very nice.

Thanks for any advice! This forum is a wealth of knowledge. I mostly grow orchids but love African violets for being so easygoing and blooming beautifully when no other orchids are flowering. :)

Relevant photos:

White flowers with a slight tinge of blue. You can see the changed blossoms in the upper left corner.

Single and semi-double white-with-blue streaks:

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Comments (5)

alabamaav
8 years ago
Very beautiful. If you suspect it may be a chimera (often have striped flowers) you can try to propagate it from the blossom stem. Use a mixture of 50/50 vermiculite and perlite in a small pot and plant the blossom stem after flowers have been removed. If green bracts are tiny, this method may not work. Put under plastic to maintain humidity and monitor for several weeks. Slower than other methods, but may help stabilize the beautiful color combination. Hope this helps.
Ephemerati thanked alabamaav
Ephemerati
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you, alabamaav! The distinctive stripe patterns had me suspecting it could be a chimera, but as I'm not familiar with the phenomenon it's incredibly helpful hearing opinions from more experienced growers. :)

This bloom stalk has one more bud about to open - should I wait till it opens to cut the stalk, or is there an "optimal time" to harvest a bloom stalk for propagation? The tiny leaves (bracts) are so very tiny! The individual flowers on this plant tend to last 3-4 weeks before fading, so I have a bit of time. Thanks again for your help!
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Ephemerati
Original Author
8 years ago
Here's a clearer shot of the first flower to open showing this pattern:

I wish I knew the name of this NOID, it's my first and my favourite. It did kickstart things though: I recently bought two named violets - Optimara Trinidad II and Kermit - and they're both adjusting well. Can't wait to see how they flower in a few months time. And I've given the other little leaf-babies from this violet to work colleagues and now they're hooked too, yay!
alabamaav
8 years ago
Evidence that your plant may be a chimera is if it doesn't bloom true from leaf cuttings. I would suggest devoting one or two bloom stems to this purpose if you want to try propagating it and leaving one to bloom to enjoy the flowers.

This article from the Violet Barn might help: https://www.violetbarn.com/plant_care/lessons/propagation-by-blossom-stems/

Good luck!
Ephemerati thanked alabamaav
Ephemerati
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the advice and link! That's a great idea; I think I'll also put down a leaf from the same location as the bloom stalk and, if all goes well, in a year's time I can compare whether the flowers from the babies are different or not. Never a dull moment with these AVs. :)