Formerly genus of plants
Sansevieria
is a historically recognized genus of
flowering plants
, native to Africa, notably Madagascar, and southern Asia, now included in the genus
Dracaena
on the basis of
molecular phylogenetic
studies.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Common names for the 70 or so species formerly placed in the genus include
mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue,
jinn
's tongue, bow string hemp,
snake plant
and
snake tongue
.
[4]
In the
APG III classification system
,
Dracaena
is placed in the
family
Asparagaceae
, subfamily
Nolinoideae
(formerly the family Ruscaceae).
[5]
It has also been placed in the former family Dracaenaceae.
Description
[
edit
]
There is great variation within the species formerly placed in the
genus
; they range from
succulent
desert plants
such as
Dracaena pinguicula
to thinner leafed tropical plants such as
Dracaena trifasciata
. Plants often form dense clumps from a spreading
rhizome
or
stolons
.
[6]
[7]
Foliage
[
edit
]
The leaves of former
Sansevieria
species are typically arranged in a rosette around the
growing point
, although some species are
distichous
. There is a great variation in foliage form. All former species can be divided into one of two basic categories based on their leaves: hard leaved and soft-leaved species. Typically, hard-leaved species originate from arid climates, while soft-leaved species originate from tropical and subtropical regions.
[6]
Hard leaved species have a number of adaptations for surviving dry regions. These include thick, succulent leaves for storing water and thick leaf
cuticles
for reducing moisture loss. These leaves may be cylindrical to reduce surface area and are generally shorter than those of their soft leafed tropical counterparts, which are wide and strap-like.
[6]
Flowers
[
edit
]
The
flowers
of former
Sansevieria
species are usually greenish-white, also rose, lilac-red, brownish, produced on a simple or branched
raceme
. The
fruit
is a red or orange
berry
. In nature, they are pollinated by moths, but both flowering and fruiting are erratic and few seeds are produced.
[6]
[7]
The raceme is derived from the
apical meristem
, and a flowered shoot will no longer produce new leaves. Unlike plants such as
agave
which
die after flowering
, a bloomed shoot will simply cease to produce new leaves. The flowered shoot continues to grow by producing plantlets via its
rhizomes
or
stolons
.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
The genus name
Sansevieria
honors
Italian
scientist and inventor
Raimondo di Sangro
(1710?1771), Prince of
San Severo
.
[8]
[9]
The genus was originally named
Sanseverinia
by
Vincenzo Petagna
in 1787,
[10]
to honor his patron Pietro Antonio Sanseverino, Count of Chiaromonte (1724?1771), in whose garden Petagna had seen the plant.
[11]
In 1794,
Carl Peter Thunberg
used the name
Sansevieria
.
[10]
[12]
It is not clear whether Thunberg's name was intended to be new, or was a typographical error for Petagna's name.
[11]
"
Sansevieria
Thunb.
" is a
conserved name
in the
International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants
, notwithstanding arguments that the author should be given as Petagna.
[11]
[13]
The spellings "
Sanseveria
" and "
Sanseviera
" are commonly seen as well, the confusion deriving from alternate spellings of the Italian place name.
[
citation needed
]
Molecular phylogenetic
studies showed that
Sansevieria
was nested within
Dracaena
, rendering the latter
paraphyletic
unless
Dracaena
was expanded to include the species formerly placed in
Sansevieria
.
[3]
Sections
[
edit
]
As of 2015, the genus was subdivided into three sections, one of which was further subdivided into three subsections:
[14]
- sect.
Sansevieria
- subsect.
Sansevieria
- subsect.
Hastifolia
- subsect.
Solonifera
- sect.
Dracomima
- sect.
Cephalantha
Selected former species
[
edit
]
Uses
[
edit
]
Rope and traditional uses
[
edit
]
In Africa, the leaves of former
Sansevieria
species are used for
fiber
production;
[15]
in some species, e.g.
Dracaena hanningtonii
, the plant's sap has antiseptic qualities, and the leaves are used for bandages in traditional
first aid
.
[16]
Ornamental purposes
[
edit
]
Several former
Sansevieria
species are popular
houseplants
in temperate regions, with
Dracaena trifasciata
the most widely sold; numerous
cultivars
are available. In China, the plant is usually kept potted in a pot often ornamented with dragons and phoenixes.
[17]
Growth is comparatively slow and the plant will last for many years. There are two main varieties: wild type sansevierias have stiff, erect, scattered, lance-shaped leaves while the bird's nest sansevierias grow in rosettes. As houseplants, sansevierias thrive on warmth and bright light, but will also tolerate shade. They can rot from over-watering, so it is important that they are potted in well-drained soil, and not over-watered. They need to be re-potted or split at the root from time to time because they will sometimes grow so large that they break the pot they are growing in.
In Korea, potted sansevierias are commonly presented as a gift during opening ceremonies of businesses or other auspicious events.
In Barbados, sansevieria is also popularly referred to as the "money plant", with the belief that the person having it will always have money. The belief seems to be based on an association of the color (green) with the US bills.
[
citation needed
]
Other former
Sansevieria
species are less common in cultivation. Another species is
Sansevieria cylindrica
, which has leaves which look quite different from
D. trifasciata
, but is equally tough.
[18]
Plants can be propagated by seed, leaf-cutting, and division. Seeds are rarely used, as plants can normally be grown much faster from cuttings or divisions. As many cultivars are periclinal
chimeras
, they do not come true to type from leaf cuttings, and therefore must be propagated by rhizome division to retain the variegation.
[19]
Scenery in film and television
[
edit
]
Sansevierias have frequently been used as a set decoration in many films and TV shows, both in Hollywood and internationally, since at least the 1930s, including
A Serbian Film
,
Being John Malkovich
,
Blue Velvet
,
Duck Soup
,
Groundhog Day
,
Homegrown
,
The Paper
, and
These Final Hours
.
Air purification
[
edit
]
According to a
NASA Clean Air Study
, along with other plants such as
golden pothos
(
Epipremnum aureum
) and
corn plant
(
Dracaena fragrans
),
Dracaena trifasciata
is capable of purifying air by removing some pollutants such as
formaldehyde
,
xylene
, and
toluene
.
[20]
Sansevierias use the
crassulacean acid metabolism
process,
[21]
which absorbs carbon dioxide at night, although oxygen is released during daylight. Nighttime absorption of
CO
2
purportedly makes them especially suitable bedroom plants.
[
citation needed
]
However, since the leaves are potentially poisonous if ingested, they are not usually recommended for children's bedrooms.
[
citation needed
]
Feng shui
[
edit
]
According to
feng shui
, because the leaves of sansevierias grow upwards, the plants can be used for feng shui purposes.
[22]
[23]
Some believe that having sansevierias near children helps reduce coarseness, although care must be taken to ensure the child cannot reach the plant's poisonous leaves.
[24]
Others recommend placing pots near the toilet tank to counter the drain-down vibrations.
[25]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
Sansevieria
"
.
World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
(WCSP)
.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
.
- ^
Stevens, P.F. (2001?2012),
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Nolinoideae
- ^
a
b
Lu, Pei-Luen & Morden, Clifford W. (2014), "Phylogenetic Relationships among Dracaenoid Genera (Asparagaceae: Nolinoideae) Inferred from Chloroplast DNA Loci",
Systematic Botany
,
39
(1): 90?104,
doi
:
10.1600/036364414X678035
,
S2CID
86171270
- ^
Mbugua, P. K.; D. M. Moore (1996).
"Taxonomic studies of the genus Sansevieria (Dracaenaceae)"
. In L. J. G. van der Maesen; M. van der Burgt; J. M. van Medenbach de Rooy (eds.).
The Biodiversity of African Plants
(hardcover) (1st ed.). p. 880.
doi
:
10.1007/978-94-009-0285-5_62
.
ISBN
978-94-010-6613-6
.
- ^
Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae",
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
,
161
(2): 132?136,
doi
:
10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x
- ^
a
b
c
d
Stover, Hermine (1983).
The Sansevieria Book
.
- ^
a
b
Chahinian, B. Juan (2005).
The Splendid Sansevieria: An Account of the Species
.
ISBN
987-43-9250-9
.
- ^
Coombes, Allen J. (2012). "The A to Z of Plant Names". Timber Press.
ISBN
9781604691962
(hardback). pp 265
- ^
Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9780521866453
(hardback),
ISBN
9780521685535
(paperback). pp 339
- ^
a
b
"Plant Name Details for
Sansevieria
Thunb"
.
The International Plant Names Index
. Retrieved
15 July
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
Marais, W. (1973). "(350) Proposal to Amend the Entry of 1100. Sanseviera in the List of Nomina Generica Conservanda".
Taxon
.
22
(1): 158?159.
doi
:
10.2307/1218069
.
JSTOR
1218069
.
- ^
"Section S"
.
ICN: Appendix IIIA Nomina Generica Conservanda et Rejicienda
. Retrieved
15 July
2018
.
- ^
Menale, Bruno; De Luca, Paolo & Del Guacchio, Emanuele (2013), "A plea to restore Petagna's authorship for the genus Sansevieria, nom. cons. (Liliaceae)",
Taxon
,
62
(2): 387?390,
doi
:
10.12705/622.7
,
JSTOR
taxon.62.2.387
- ^
Mansfeld, P.A.
Die Systematik der Gattung Sansevieria (Asparagaceae)
. Sansevieria Online 3(1). 2015.
- ^
Kirby, F. Vaughan (1899).
Sport in East Central Africa: Being An Account of Hunting Trips in Portuguese And Other Districts of East Central Africa
.
- ^
Chinasa, EC; Obodoike, EC & Chhukwuemeka, ES (2011), "Evaluation of anti-inflammatory property of the leaves of Sansevieria liberica ger. and labr. (fam: Dracaenaceae).",
Asian Pac J Trop Med
,
4
(10): 791?5,
doi
:
10.1016/S1995-7645(11)60195-8
,
PMID
22014734
- ^
"Sansevieria trifasciata"
.
About-garden.com
.
- ^
McDonald, Elvin (2012).
The World Book of House Plants
. Literary Licensing, LLC.
ISBN
978-1-258-42148-9
.
- ^
Henley, R.W.; Chase, A.R.; Osborne, L.S.
"Sansevieria Production Guide"
. University of Florida, IFAS.
- ^
Wolverton, B. C.; Johnson, Anne; Bounds, Keith (15 September 1989).
"Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement"
(PDF)
. NASA.
- ^
Gilman, I.S.; Smith, J.A.C.; Holtum, J.A.M.; Sage, R.F.; Silvera, K.; Winter, K.; Edwards, E.J. (2023).
"The CAM lineages of planet Earth"
.
Annals of Biology
.
132
(4): 627?654.
doi
:
10.1093/aob/mcad135
.
PMID
37698538
.
- ^
"faq"
. feng shui palace. Archived from
the original
on 15 July 2018.
- ^
"SANSEVIERIA CYLINDRICA"
. Portland Nursery. Archived from
the original
on 18 June 2010.
Using Feng Shui principles, the Sansevieria is used to bring good fortune into the home, while warding off evil spirits.
- ^
"Feng Shui and indoor plants"
. Archived from
the original
on 27 May 2010
. Retrieved
19 April
2010
.
- ^
Englebert, Clear (2001).
Bedroom Feng Shui
. Crossing Press. p. 143.
ISBN
1-58091-109-9
.
External links
[
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]