The year 1992 marked the Centenial of the discovery of the Arican violet (Saintpaulia) by non-Africans.

In 1892 Baron Walter von Saint Paul found the purple flowered plants in the Usambara Mountains in what is now known as Tanzania. He sent seeds from the plants to his father in Germany and his father took an interest in the plants. Later, seeds were given to Hermann Wendland of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hanover, Germany. The plants were classified in the Family Gesneriaceae. The plants were given the generic name of saintpaulia in honor of the von Saint Paul family. In 1893 the first commercially produced plants were offered by Friedrich Benary in Erfurt, Germany.

The American history of the African violet began in 1926 when Armacost and Royston of West Los Angeles, California imported seeds from Germany and England. Armacost and Royston used the resulting plants to develop ten new hybrid African violets. The original ten selected for release included Blue Boy, Sailor Boy, Admiral, Amethyst, Commodore, Mermaid Neptune, Norseman, Viking, and #32. Since that time African violets have become one of the world's most popular houseplants.

Because of the tendency of saintpaulia hybrids to "sport" or mutate, many new characteristics have been introduced to African violet growers. Some of the most important mutations include: girl foliage, variegated foliage, pink blossoms, and double blossoms. With careful hybridizing, African violet enthusiasts have been able to incorporate or heighten new characteristics. As a result, we now have miniature, semiminiature, and standard size African violets with various types of foliage and blossoms. With more than seven thousand registered cultivars, the variety available today seems almost endless!