Barbara

Books: Growing to Show, Pauline Bartholomew.

A sport or mutant is a plant which shows difference from the mother leaf from which it came. For instance, if you had STARTRICK, which has a fantasy flower and took a leaf you might get plantlets that look exactly like the mother leaf or you might get a sport or mutant which gives solid purple flowers. Sometimes sports are better than the mother plants but most often they are not.

Sometimes you can get a chimera (stripes coming from the center to the edge of each petal)from certain plants. These are great when you get them.

David Senk is a hybridizer who seems always to introduce very odd plants, often with wasp flowers. Wasp flowers have separate petals like a rose, where you could pull off one petal and not damage others. African violets usually have lobes, which if you tore off part of one you would damage others. Plants with wasp flowers often have foliage that is different, too, called bustle foliage. On the back of each leaf is a tiny bustle-like projection.

I don't think there are any books that give a great description. They often give a definition but not a detailed description.

Rachel's Reflections is a very good website for newbies, those who are beginning to have an interest in African violets.

In the meantime, we will try to answer your questions here.

Nancy