Otto,what your "Oma" was fond of must very probably have been an "Alpenveilchen", which IS a cyclamen (actually related to primroses) and is what Steve has shown so well in his picture.
It was formerly a very popular window plant in Germany and Austria and is still seen quite often.
The "Usumbaraveilchen" was also very popular and has a strong connection to Hannover, where I live.
This is the original colour of the Usumabaraveilchen (African Violet/ Saintpaulia):
http://www.blumen-engelhardt.de/usambaraveilchen.jpgIn the meantime they have been bred into red, pink, light violet, lilac, white and variegated forms.
Around 1890, the first plants were sent by the German colonial governor from the former colony Deutsch-Ostafrika (the Usumbara Mountains) to the Botanical Gardens in Hannover-Herrenhausen to Oberhofgärtner Wendland who was the first to describe the plant and propagate it.
The success of propagation (and the fact that it's a pretty and very hardy indoor plant that needs little special care) led to it becoming a very popular houseplant that is still available everywhere today.
Here's a history of the plant (unfortunately they spelled Herrenhausen wrong twice - in different ways too :-) :
http://tinyurl.com/5woohfToday, the Herrenhausen gardens are famous for their orchids, and their greenhouses hold some of the rarest orchids in the world.
An interesting (or maybe not) piece of trivia - Hildesheim, not far from Hannover, exports tap water all over Europe because its pH value is ideal for watering orchids.
Cheers Douglas Otto Rath wrote:
Hi Kiddydoc, I enjoy your wonderful b/w work with patients and staff, sick kids always a touching subject. I remember my late mother was very fond of her "Usambara-Veilchen" in pots on the window-sill; I guess it's some sort of african cyclamen?Nice color. greetings OTTO--- On Sat, 10/18/08, Steve Barbour <kididdoc@xxxxxxx> wrote:From: Steve Barbour <kididdoc@xxxxxxx> Subject: [LRflex] desert flower... To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "LEG" <leica@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "MUG Users" <MUGers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "LRF" <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Received: Saturday, October 18, 2008, 1:43 PM not my usual... it's some succulent, don't recall... http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/barbour/paw2008/3roseflowers.jpg.html maybe someone recognizes this... R8 S'lux 80mm 1.4 thanks, Steve ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/
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