biology

Sansevieria

Sansevieria is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sansevieria rather than just read about it. In short: 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. 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.

Key takeaways

Sansevieria belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sansevieria to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sansevieria from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. 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. In the APG III classification system, Dracaena is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Convallarioideae (formerly subfamily Nolinoideae); before that it was placed in family Ruscaceae. It has also been placed in the former family Dracaenaceae.

Description 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.

Foliage 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. 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.

Flowers 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. 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 The genus name Sansevieria honors Italian scientist and inventor Raimondo di Sangro (1710–1771), Prince of San Severo. 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, Carl Peter 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. 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.

Sections As of 2015, the genus was subdivided into three sections, one of which was further subdivided into three subsections:

sect. Sansevieria subsect. Sansevieria subsect. Hastifolia subsect. Solonifera sect. Dracomima sect. Cephalantha

Selected former species Sansevieria arborescens Cornu ex Gérôme & Labroy = Dracaena arborescens (Cornu ex Gérôme & Labroy) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria bagamoyensis Carrière = Dracaena bagamoyensis (N.E.Br.) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria ballyi = Dracaena ballyi Sansevieria carnea Andrews = Reineckea carnea (Andrews) Kunth Sansevieria cylindrica Bojer ex Hook. = Dracaena angolensis (Welw. ex Carrière) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria ehrenbergii Schweinf. ex Baker = Dracaena hanningtonii Baker Sansevieria eilensis Chahin. = Dracaena eilensis (Chahin.) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria fischeri Baker = Dracaena fischeri Sansevieria kirkii Baker = Dracaena pethera Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria masoniana Chahin = Dracaena masoniana (Chahin.) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria pinguicula P.R.O.Bally = Dracaena pinguicula (P.R.O.Bally) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria stuckyi God.-Leb. ex Gérôme & Labroy = Dracaena stuckyi (God.-Leb.) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria suffruticosa N.E.Br. = Dracaena suffruticosa (N.E.Br.) Byng & Christenh. Sansevieria trifasciata Prain = Dracaena trifasciata (Prain) Mabb.

Uses

Rope and traditional uses In Africa, the leaves of former Sansevieria species are used for fiber production; 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.

Ornamental purposes

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sansevieria

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sansevieria claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sansevieria before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sansevieria ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sansevieria

In research: Sansevieria appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sansevieria in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sansevieria is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dracaena (plant), Drought-tolerant plants, Fiber plants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sansevieria outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sansevieria in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sansevieria means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sansevieria out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sansevieria in simple terms?

Why does Sansevieria matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sansevieria?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sansevieria.