SANSEVIERIA: CHARACTERISTICS, PROPERTIES, CULTIVATION, DISEASES - BIOLOGY - 2025

Sansevieria is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, stoloniferous, and rhizomatous plants that belong to the Asparagaceae family. Popularly known as lizard's tail, St. George's sword, king's sword or mother-in-law's tongue, they make up more than 120 species native to Asia and Africa.

They are acaule plants formed by erect, lanceolate, fleshy and leathery leaves, arranged distinctively on a robust rhizome. The bisexual and actinomorphic flowers are grouped in panicle-shaped inflorescences, the fruit is a subglobose berry with fleshy pulp.

Sansevieria trifasciata. Source: KENPEI

Species of the genus Sansevieria are rustic, easy-to-maintain plants, grown as ornamental plants for interiors and gardening. They reproduce easily by plant division, tolerate hot and dry environments, low temperatures, little solar radiation and lack of irrigation.

In this genus there are basically two types of plants, those with long lanceolate leaves and those with short rosette leaves. Among the main species of commercial importance are Sansevieria cylindrica, Sansevieria grandis, Sansevieria hyacinthoides, Sansevieria liberica, Sansevieria metallica, Sansevieria scabrifolia and Sansevieria trifasciata.

General characteristics

Sansevieria cylindrica. Source: Photo by David J. Stang

Appearance

Herbaceous plants with a very short or acaulescence stem that develop from a robust rhizome. The leaves are arranged in the form of a rosette until reaching, depending on the species, from 10-15 cm to 140-150 cm in height.

Leaves

The firm and erect leaves are flat, cylindrical or concave, short or long, with a smooth and leathery texture, a fleshy or succulent appearance. They develop from a basal rosette, being of different shades of green, with longitudinal yellow lines or transverse spots of grayish tones.

flowers

The greenish-white flowers are made up of six tepals united at the base, which form a cylindrical where the androecium and stamens are located. The flowers are grouped in clusters or elongated spikes on a white articulated peduncle that emerges from the foliar axils.

Fruit

The fruit is a fleshy berry with reddish or orange tones when ripe. Inside are dark brown seeds.

Taxonomy

- Kingdom: Plantae

- Division: Magnoliophyta

- Class: Liliopsida

- Subclass: Liliidae

- Order: Asparagales

- Family: Asparagaceae

- Subfamily: Nolinoideae

- Genus: Sansevieria Thunb.

Species

- Sansevieria cylindrica: plant with elongated, cylindrical and upright leaves, dark green in color with small glaucous spots.

- Sansevieria ehrenbergii: the rounded leaves emerge alternately with the flattened sides, they are dark green with parallel lines of darker tones.

- S. grandis: epiphytic plant with short leaves arranged in a rosette, with dark green streaks.

- S. hyacinthoides: lanceolate leaves with hardened red-orange margins. The surface of the leaflet has alternating pale green and dark green bands.

- Sansevieria liberica: plant with short leaves with white transverse bands and reddish margins.

- Sansevieria metallica: a plant with medium-sized ascending leaves, densely striped, white with a metallic luster.

- S. scabrifolia: erect leaves 15 cm high, greyish green color and serrated margins with a thin white band.

- S. stuckyi: cylindrical leaves, thicker at the base than the apex with a lateral channel. It is of a fleshy consistency of dark green color with light bands.

- Sansevieria trifasciata: herbaceous plant with fleshy, sessile, long or short leaves, mottled in green, gray or white and with yellow edges.

Sansevieria ehrenbergii. Source: Haplochromis

Synonymy

- Acyntha Medik. (1786).

- Sanseverinia Petagna (1787).

- Salmia Cav. (1795).

Etymology

- Sansevieria: the name of the genus was designated by the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), in honor of the Neapolitan military and researcher Raimondo di Sangro, seventh prince of Sansevero.

Sansevieria grandis. Source: Daderot

Habitat and distribution

Species of the genus Sansevieria are native to western and southern Africa, distributed among Angola, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. It is currently a cosmopolitan crop, due to its easy vegetative propagation, ornamental use and medicinal properties.

As ornamental plants they require a temperature range of 20-30 ºC for their optimal growth, however, they tolerate occasional temperatures of 7-10 ºC. Although it supports shady environments, it requires continuous lighting during the day, so values ​​between 10,000-20,000 lux favor its development.

They adapt to various edaphic conditions, although they prefer loamy, fertile, loose and well-drained soils, with a pH between 6-7. Its water requirements depend on environmental conditions and soil texture, as a general rule at lower temperatures and light, irrigation should be less frequent.

Sansevieria hyacinthoides. Source: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz

Properties

Ornamental

The species of the genus Sansevieria are used as ornamental plants that adapt to different conditions, especially closed environments. Indeed, it is an easy-to-propagate, low-maintenance crop, ideal for growing in pots or beds in parks and gardens.

Sansevieria trifasciata. Photo by Kara Eads on Unsplash

The Sansevieria trifasciata species is considered a purifying plant for indoor environments. Scientific studies have determined that it has the ability to remove toxic compounds from the air in closed environments, such as benzenes and formaldehydes.

Medicinal

Regarding its medicinal properties, of all the species of the genus Sansevieria, only the species Sansevieria trifasciata is used in herbalism. The presence of certain secondary metabolites provides it with anti-inflammatory, healing, cleansing properties and helps regulate blood glucose levels.

Contraindications

Despite its low level of toxicity, in some people it can cause salivation, nausea and headache. In certain domestic animals, such as cats and dogs, its ingestion can cause intestinal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, which require veterinary care.

Sansevieria liberica. Source: Peter A. Mansfeld

Culture

The reproduction of the different Sansevieria species can be done by plant division, leaf cuttings and through seeds.

Plant Division

The rhizome of these plants is easily divisible, which makes it possible to obtain specimens with the same characteristics as the mother plant. The technique consists of removing the plant from the pot or directly from the ground, and cutting pieces with leaves and roots using a sharp tool.

Similarly, you can cut the suckers that commonly sprout from the rhizome. The pieces are sown in pots until they take root or directly in the final field.

Leaf cuttings

Propagation technique under greenhouse conditions that allows to quickly obtain a large number of seedlings. The technique consists of obtaining 5-6 cm long pieces of leaves from healthy and vigorous plants.

The pieces are impregnated with powdered phytohormones and placed in rooting beds under controlled conditions of temperature, humidity and light. Under suitable conditions, the pieces begin to generate roots after 30-45 days, later they are transplanted into pots until their development is complete.

Seeds

Seed production is scarce in most species of the genus Sansevieria, however, in case of fruiting they can be used as a means of propagation. The seeds obtained directly from the plant are sown in a vermiculite substrate with constant humidity, after 20-25 days germination begins.

Sansevieria stuckyi. Source: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz

Diseases

Under adverse conditions of high environmental and substrate humidity, the appearance of certain fungal or bacterial diseases that affect the rhizome or the leaves is common. Certain phytopathogenic soil fungi of the genera Fusarium or Phytophthora can cause rhizome rot, leaf wilting, and general weakness.

At the foliage level, the highest incidence is related to phytopathogenic fungi of the Botrytis, Oidium and Gloesporium genera. The symptoms appear as grayish powders that cover the leaves or circular and irregular spots of brown and brown tones, which in most cases cause the death of the leaves.

References

1. African sword. Sansevieria trifasciata (2019) EncicloVida. Conabio. Recovered in: enciclovida.mx
2. Sánchez de Lorenzo Cáceres, JL (2006) The species of the genus Sansevieria cultivated in Spain. Recovered in: arbolesornamentales.es
3. Sánchez, M. (2018) Sansevieria. Gardening On. Recovered in: jardineriaon.com
4. Sansevieria (2018) Elicriso. Recovered in: elicriso.it
5. Sansevieria. (2019). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered at: es.wikipedia.org
6. Wikipedia contributors. (2020). Sansevieria. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered at: en.wikipedia.org