African violet

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of various East African herbs of the genus Saintpaulia, having a basal leaf rosette and a showy cluster of violet, blue, pink, or white flowers, often grown as an indoor ornamental.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A perennial plant of the genus Saintpaulia, especialy Saintpaulia ionantha, with fine haired round leaves and velvety petals.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun tropical African plant cultivated as a houseplant for its violet or white or pink flowers