The African violet, Saintpaulia, is one of the most popular houseplants, with retail sales of horticultural hybrids amounting to tens of millions of dollars per year. At the same time, natural populations are threatened on the mountains of Kenya and Tanzania because of agriculture and climate change. A Saintpaulia genome sequence would provide vital data for breeding of color and shape modifications, better understanding African violet evolution, and informing strategies for their conservation.