Identifying a 22-Year-Old African Violet: Database Limits and Growing Condition Variables

A grower wanted to identify a 22-year-old African violet from an elder's collection, offering to send photos.

Identification Challenges

AVSA database has 15,000+ cultivars. Many look nearly identical. Growing conditions (light, fertilizer, humidity, temperature) dramatically alter appearance—same variety looks different in different homes.

Optimara Factor

Unnamed nursery plants are often Optimara varieties—bred for natural light, similar dark green quilted foliage, hard to distinguish.

Photo Submission

Send foliage AND flower photos to author's email for database comparison. But exact match probability is low. Consider naming it after the giver instead.

AVSA Resource

avsa.org has ~500 photos searchable by name for self-comparison.