African Violets

 

I have a few African violets that get along fairly well in spite of
me.  Yesterday I noticed, on a plant with numerous flowers, a growth
extending from the center of the flower.  It is about 1/2 inch long,
mostly cylindrical with a pointed tip.  I'm curious.

Does this "thing" mean that this flower is a male (well, it does
resemble a male appendage)?

I'm sure that someone out there knows what I'm asking about.

Thanks,

Grannie

 


Not sure about African violets - they seem to produce things that are
simply extensions of petals and not sexual.

In general in plants, fluffy bits are male and hard pointy bits are
female. The mechanism is that pollen from the male parts is transferred
by various means to the female parts. So the male parts are delicate
with a lot of surface area for pollen release, and covered with pollen.
The female part needs to be stronger because it survives for longer, and
has a surface that will hold on to pollen.

Some plants have male flowers and female flowers on separate plants
(holly, skimmia, pernettya), some have separate male and female flowers
on the same plant (hazel, alder, courgettes) but most seem to have male
and female parts in the same flower, and have often developed quite
sophisticated mechanisms for encouraging cross pollination over self
pollination.
--
Kay

 



Yes it always strikes me that plants have a much more interesting sex life
than some humans (me). I am still jealous of the various devices and
mechanisms used by aroids. Fascinating stuff and you do not even have to be
interested in plants.

 


I have many African violets on my desk, the majority I have raised
from cuttings.  However, they have never flowered.  Can you offer any
advice on how to make them flower?

Judith

 

On Feb 21, 12:18 pm, "judith.le...@googlemail.com"

Judith...

Have you fed them?  There are special African violet "vitamins" -- the
one I use dissolves in water and really wakes them up!  Also the
amount of light could be a factor.

Grannie