Sansevieria

Sansevieria is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants, native to Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. Common names include mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue, jinn's tongue, bow string hemp, snake plant and snake tongue. It is often included in the genus Dracaena; in the APG III classification system, both genera are placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). It has also been placed in the former family Dracaenaceae. There is great variation within the genus, and species range from succulent desert plants such as Sansevieria pinguicula to thinner leafed tropical plants such as Sansevieria trifasciata. Plants often form dense clumps from a spreading rhizome or stolons. The leaves of Sansevieria are typically arranged in a rosette around the growing point, although some species are distichous. There is great variation in foliage form within the genus. All species can be divided into one of two basic categories based on their leaves: hard leaved and soft leaved species. Typically, hard leaved Sansevieria originate from arid climates, while the soft leaved species originate from tropical and subtropical regions.Hard leaved Sansevieria 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. The flowers 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, Sansevieria flowers are pollinated by moths, but both flowering and fruiting are erratic and few seeds are produced. The raceme of Sansevieria 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 Sansevieria shoot will simply cease to produce new leaves. The flowered shoot continues to grow by producing plantlets via its rhizomes or stolons. Sansevieria is named for the Italian scientist and inventor Raimondo di Sangro , Prince of Sanseviero. The genus was originally named Sanseverinia by Vincenzo Petagna in 1787, to honor his patron Pietro Antonio Sanseverino, Count of Chiaromonte (1724–1771), in whose garden Petagna had seen the plant. In 1794, Thunberg, used the name Sansevieria. It is not clear whether Thunberg's name was intended to be new, or was a typographical error for Petagna's name. '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. The spellings 'Sanseveria' and 'Sanseviera' are commonly seen as well, the confusion deriving from alternate spellings of the Italian place name. As of 2015 the genus was subdivided into three sections, one of which is further subdivided into three subsections: In Africa, the leaves are used for fiber production; in some species, e.g. Sansevieria ehrenbergii, the plant's sap has antiseptic qualities, and the leaves are used for bandages in traditional first aid.