Diverse range of sansevieria plants offer something for everyone. Here’s what to know
You can hop onto the sansevieria bandwagon at just about any level. There’s something in there for anyone, from the casual office person who just wants something green to break up the starkness to the serious plant geek (like me) who marvels at one group of plants, their beauties and their diversities.
Let’s start with the beginners. Most of us grew up hearing our elders call this plant “snake plant” or “mother-in-law’s tongue.” That first name refers to the “diamondback” patterns on some of their leaves (not where they’re found). I’ll defer on explaining the second name.
As kids we noticed that these plants often hung out in old clay pots outside the back door, growing (surviving) with little or no attention other than being set inside when freezing weather arrived in the fall.
As we grew up and became somewhat more sophisticated in our plant tastes we noticed that not all snake plants looked like snakes. Some looked like birds’ nests. Some looked elongated green broomsticks. Some even had crazy stripes in creamy white or bright yellow. We had some choices to make.
A few of us took the plunge. We started collecting, and we became, well, obsessive. We were done with the common ones, and we thirsted for the unusual. They’d pop up mixed in with cacti and succulents in nurseries and even box stores. More recently, the better nurseries have felt our desires for the really nice types and have gone out of their way to accommodate.
And the silliest of us all started searching on eBay. There are more than 700 individual plants (always search in the singular) offered for sale there, with prices ranging from just less than $1,000 for a rare hybrid to less than $5 for one that’s as common as dust. I’ve bought a lot of plants off eBay (most either haworthias or bromeliads) and I’ve only been disappointed one time, but I don’t buy plants that cost $1,000, and I don’t buy from out-of-country. But just scrolling through those listings will give you a feeling for the wide diversity that’s available in this genus.
And, speaking of the genus Sansevieria, if you’re a plant taxonomist, there’s some meat in this meal for you as well. There’s a big discussion going on that seems to be pointing that these plants need to be grouped into the genus Dracaena. What? They don’t look like corn plant dracaenas at all!
According to a fascinating story, “Identifying Sansevieria: Are ALL Snake Plants Sansevieria? Dracaenas?” at The Healthy Houseplant online, botanists have noted for decades that the flowers and fruit of dracaenas and sansevierias resembled one another very closely. Since that, after all, is how plants are botanically classified, there was discussion that the two genera should be combined.
However, it wasn’t until 2012 that a graduate student at the University of Hawaii analyzed 95 species of dracaenas, sansevierias, and pleomeles and found genomic sequencing put all three genera in the same evolutionary group. Scientists referred to the evidence presented by Pei-Luen Lu as “overwhelming.”
The winner in the thumb-wrestling competition for the final and official generic name: “Dracaena.” Apparently, the report says, because it was first used in 1767. “Sansevieria” wasn’t coined until 1794.
So that’s it for the plant nerds among us. However, it’s suggested you still look these plants up under the name “sansevieria” because most people who sell them or write about them either haven’t yet made the switch or list them as both. I guess you could put me in that “holdover” group, to use the current vernacular. I’ll stick with “Sansevieria” for the next several paragraphs.
Tips on growing sansevierias
There was a time 25 or 30 years ago that I had a collection of different types of sansevierias. My high-water mark was about 65 cultivars of all shapes and sizes. However, a heater malfunction cost me about two-thirds of the total one cold winter night and I’ve moved on to other plants. But I learned a lot while growing them.
Clay pots work best. These plants get very top-heavy. The weight of the terra cotta pots helps keep them upright. However, the rhizomes (underground stems) are big and ultra-powerful. They can easily pop the side walls of the pots, so you need to divide and/or repot your plants frequently.
Use a porous, highly organic potting soil. I use the very best mix I can buy, and I add 20% to 30% expanded shale to it. Not only does that give it perfect aeration, but it adds more ballast to the pots. I keep my plants moist, but never wet for prolonged periods. Better to be too dry for a month than too wet for a week. (That’s why these plants are so good for beginners.)
Fertilize with a high-nitrogen, water-soluble plant food monthly, especially during the brighter months of spring, summer, and early fall.
Sansevierias grow best in bright light, but out of direct Texas sunlight. They’ll tolerate dark indoor conditions for a period of time, but don’t expect them to grow well unless they have bright indirect light. Protect them from temperatures below 50F.
Sansevierias are propagated by division. Green types can be grown from leaf cuttings. Types with stripes running the lengths of their leaves are chimeras. The result is that you can’t use leaf cuttings to start new plants. For chimeras, division is the only way.
Finally, about those flowers. Some types do bloom. Their flowers are incredibly sweet smelling, eventually almost overpowering. The fruit are pea-sized and orange-red.
